Fla. (WFLA) — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is seeking an emergency injunction against ChatGPT maker OpenAI, seeking to stop its development as their legal battle unfolds
Uthmeier, a Republican who is running for election in November, asked a Highlands County judge to bar minors from accessing the chatbot and to block OpenAI from further developing its AI models without approved guardrails.
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The state sued OpenAI and its founder Sam Altman in June, alleging the company allowed ChatGPT to aid in planning a mass shooting at Florida State University, subjected minors to harmful material, and collected data from underage users.
Now, Uthmeier is using recent concerns over OpenAI’s unfettered development as proof that the technology is dangerous and that AI companies cannot be trusted to reign it in on their own.
“Defendants claim they cannot stop barreling forward with their potentially civilization-ending endeavors unless they are forced to do so by the government. They have askedthe government to tie them to the mast,” the motion said. “Plaintiff brings good news to the Defendants: The Florida Attorney General is answering your cry for help with a motion to enjoin you from harming Floridians with your reckless, unacceptably risky product.”
When reached for comment by 8 On Your Side on Monday, a spokesperson for OpenAI said the company has stopped developing some models due to a lack of safeguards.
“People want to know AI is being developed safely, and that starts with what companies like ours do ourselves,” the statement said. “On Friday, we announced we’ve paused training our most capable models and will resume training only when we are confident that we have additional safeguards in place. Governments have an important role to play in setting robust safety standards for AI, and we’re committed to working with Florida and other states on advancing pragmatic AI policies that apply to the entire AI industry–not just one company.”
St. Petersburg College Professor of Ethics and Law Christian Moriarty said third parties getting involved can protect the population while engaging in the good that can come from the technology.
“This will remove conflicts of interest and be able the opportunity to publish those findings so people can make more informed decisions of whether they want to use it or not,” said Moriarty. “Part of the issue of artificial intelligence right now is that it’s often a black box, is that we’re not quite sure what’s in it or what it’s capable of until we actually launch it. And so what it any kind of guardrails right now, would be significantly difficult to implement. That being said, of course, we shouldn’t be afraid of implementing them, particularly when it comes to the stakes that we’re addressing.”
Another concern in the injunction is the impact on youth.
University of South Florida Assistant Professor Julia Woodward specializes in child centered computing.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of children, in the area and doing a lot of research with children, technology. And they have views of AI. They think of it as highly intelligent, but also a lot of children are really wary of it, too,” said Woodward. “We need to look at how to make them more age appropriate to have those safeguards for children that, you know, minimize that confusion between the human and the machine and reduce the socio emotional manipulation.”
She said she supports the injunction, and wants to see actions steps taken soon.
“Technologically, AI has a lot of benefits that we can potentially do, but we need to take a pause. We need to reflect, because if we don’t do anything and we continue down this path, we will be doing disservice to children.”
OpenAi sent 8 On Your Side this information regarding teen usage of ChatGPT:
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Nearly nine in ten teens who use ChatGPT turn to it for learning, information, skill-building, or productivity in a given week.
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We believe teens should have experiences designed around their distinct developmental needs, with strong default protections and appropriate opportunities to learn, create, and explore.
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Our newly launched ChatGPT for Teens reflects that approach. It is designed to help users under 18 learn, think critically, and build while promoting healthy use, providing built-in safeguards, and giving parents additional controls.
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We also design for healthy use and real-world support. Break reminders encourage teens to step away. Product notifications make clear that ChatGPT is AI. Parental controls allow families to set quiet hours and manage selected features. In limited high-risk situations, notifications can help connect a young person with offline support while respecting privacy.
“We shouldn’t handle these systems the same for teenagers as we do for like elementary age children. They conceptualize this technology differently. They have different expectations. They view AI differently,” said Woodward.
In addition to the court proceedings, Uthmeier has sought to establish criminal penalties for AI companies when their products are used the commission of a crime.
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