Legal challenges to Sam Altman’s OpenAI mount after New York attorney general issues subpoena: Here’s why | Today’s news
Trouble continues to mount for artificial intelligence (AI) startup OpenAI as a coalition of US prosecutors on Friday (local time) launched a wide-ranging investigation into a wide range of its activities.
The creator of ChatGPT was served with a subpoena on Friday seeking documents related to its wide range of activities and impact on users, including advertising, user engagement and retention, and handling of consumer and health data, Reuters reported, citing a source.
The subpoena, issued by the New York attorney general, also sought information about activities related to minors and seniors, deep learning models and the company’s internal policies.
The New York attorney general’s investigation marks the latest IPO-related legal challenge for OpenAI, which is also being sued by Florida for allegedly misrepresenting the safety of its AI chatbot.
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An OpenAI spokesperson commented: “AI is a new and powerful technology, and we work every day to safely bring its benefits to people in a responsible manner. We take the concerns raised by prosecutors seriously and intend to engage constructively with their authorities.”
Why is Florida suing OpenAI?
Earlier this month, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sued OpenAI and its chief executive officer (CEO) Sam Altman, accusing the firm of putting profit over security.
The lawsuit in Florida, the first by a US state, alleges the platform harmed children by providing information about school shooters, self-harm advice and the addictive nature of young users.
In the complaint filed, Uthmeier said, “The rise of OpenAI can be attributed to a web of fraud and exploitation of users (including Floridians), using their data and security to increase the market value of OpenAI at an unacceptable cost.”
Read also | Florida is suing OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging the company concealed serious risks to ChatGPT
In addition, the company was also accused of inciting violence and promoting a product that it knew very well could have a negative impact on users. The lawsuit comes more than a month after Florida’s attorney general issued a subpoena to the company seeking information about how it handles users’ threats to harm themselves or others.
The lawsuit accuses OpenAI of four counts of deceptive and unfair business practices, two counts of negligence, two counts of violating product liability laws, and one count of fraudulent misrepresentation and creating a public nuisance. It claims that OpenAI systems pose a “high risk of addiction, cognitive decline, suicide, violence and related harms” to users.
OpenAI was also charged after its chatbot product was allegedly used in the planning of a mass shooting at Florida State University that left two students dead.
Canadian woman sues OpenAI, Altman
In another legal challenge, a Canadian woman also sued OpenAI and Altman in a US court on Thursday, alleging that ChatGPT encouraged her daughter to kill herself. The woman, identified as Kristie Carrier, filed the lawsuit in state court in San Francisco. Carrier said her daughter Alice told ChatGPT about her suicidal thoughts more than a dozen times leading up to her death; however, OpenAI’s security systems never flagged or terminated the conversations for human review, The Guardian reported.
Legal challenges mount for OpenAI
An artificial intelligence company has been sued by representatives of seven individuals who accused the company of creating a product that caused users to commit suicide or develop harmful delusions.
The Altman-led company is also facing a lawsuit from relatives of several people killed in a mass shooting in February in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The families say the firm failed to alert authorities despite identifying troubling interactions between the suspect and ChatGPT months before the attack, which allegedly set off red flags in its security monitoring systems.
Read also | Altman apologizes after OpenAI failed to alert police to Tumbler Ridge murders
Altman apologized to the Tumbler Ridge community in late April and pledged to continue “working with all levels of government to make sure something like this never happens again.”
With ChatGPT and OpenAI under increasing scrutiny, it remains to be seen whether the AI company will go public as its CEO had hoped.
(with inputs from Reuters)
Key things
- OpenAI is currently under investigation for ChatGPT’s potentially harmful effects on users.
- Several lawsuits allege that OpenAI’s negligence contributes to user harm, particularly among vulnerable populations.
- Legal challenges could hinder OpenAI’s projected IPO and affect public perception of AI safety.
