Florida AG issues criminal subpoenas to OpenAI over ChatGPT's role in mass shooting

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced criminal subpoenas against OpenAI, launching an unprecedented investigation into whether a chatbot could be held criminally liable for its use in a mass shooting. The investigation focuses on a shooter's use of ChatGPT to plan a deadly attack at Florida State University last spring that killed two people. Prosecutors say the shooter sought advice from the AI chatbot on what weapon to use, what ammunition to fire, and where to find the most potential victims on campus. "If that bot were a person they'd be charged with a principal in first degree murder," Uthmeier said during a Tuesday press conference. The state is demanding police and chatbot training materials from OpenAI, along with company policies regarding threats to users and cooperation with law enforcement. Subpoenas for the documents are being sent to the company as the investigation proceeds. OpenAI confirmed it shared information from the shooter's ChatGPT account with prosecutors and continues to cooperate with authorities. "Last year's mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime," said OpenAI spokeswoman Kate Waters. Waters described ChatGPT as a "general-purpose tool" used by millions daily, noting that in this case, it "provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity." The announcement came 11 days after statewide prosecutors revealed they were examining the shooter's use of the AI tool. Uthmeier said the state might pursue charges against individuals at OpenAI depending on the investigation's findings. "Technology is supposed to help mankind, it's supposed to support mankind. Not end it," the attorney general added.