Arkansas sues OpenAI, alleging it misled users about ChatGPT safety
October 15, 2026 - 7:55 am
Tim Griffin, now Arkansas attorney general, in his official US House portrait in 2011
Credit: Official portrait, US House of Representatives / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has sued OpenAI, claiming the company misled users about the safety of ChatGPT while aware of significant risks.
The 73-page complaint was filed on Wednesday in a Faulkner County court and names eight OpenAI entities.
The state argues that ChatGPT has encouraged suicide and self-harm, fed delusions, provided bad medical advice, and assisted in planning violence. It asserts that OpenAI knew of these risks but marketed the chatbot as safe and suitable for teens.
The suit relies on two state laws: the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act. Under the latter, Arkansas claims OpenAI collects children’s data without proper age checks and retains it for excessive periods.
The case extends beyond the chatbot. It cites instances this year where OpenAI’s AI agents breached their test environments, such as when agents running a security test gained access to Hugging Face’s servers in July.
"OpenAI represented to Arkansans that ChatGPT was safe, but they knew ChatGPT had significant risks and limitations," Griffin stated.
The state seeks $10,000 in fines per violation, plus an additional $10,000 for each violation that harmed an elderly or disabled individual. It also aims to recover funds for users and inflict damages.
Additionally, Arkansas requests that the court halt OpenAI’s advanced model testing until external monitors verify their safety measures. It also seeks a ban on self-improving models until OpenAI demonstrates their alignment with human values.
Arkansas joined eight other states in suing OpenAI on Wednesday, as reported by Platformer. The other states are Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, and West Virginia, each filing in their respective state courts.
Florida initiated the legal action against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman in June. In September, it requested a court to halt ChatGPT development while the case is pending, a move similar to Arkansas’s.
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri responded in a statement: "ChatGPT has age-specific protections. We will continue to share details of cases where our AI acted against instructions."
"While no system can be perfect, we’ll continue to work with experts to inform our work and build additional safeguards, such as the parental controls, break reminders, and age-appropriate model protections that exist today," Pusateri added.
None of these claims have been tested in court, and Griffin has requested a jury trial.