Florida seeks court order to halt OpenAI model development

Sep 28, 2026

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has petitioned a court to block OpenAI from developing new AI models without third-party safety guardrails. The motion, part of an ongoing lawsuit accusing OpenAI of harming children, seeks to ban minors from ChatGPT and stop the company from giving its chatbots human attributes. Florida cites security incidents and warnings from AI executives, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. In response, OpenAI noted it paused training on its most capable models on September 25, 2026, to implement further safeguards.

Florida's motion for a temporary injunction

▪Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier's injunction motion seeks to prevent OpenAI from advertising its products as safe, accurate, or reliable, and to block the company from giving its chatbots human attributes
▪Florida's motion alleges OpenAI violates the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting personal information from children under 13 without parental consent and seeks to ban minors from using OpenAI's models
▪Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a motion on September 28, 2026, seeking a temporary injunction to block OpenAI from developing new artificial intelligence models without third-party approved safety guardrails

Axios report on security incidents

▪An investigation by Axios and security researchers revealed that OpenAI and Anthropic are facing tens of thousands of security incidents involving problematic model behavior, though most have not caused real-world harm
▪Florida's injunction request specifically cited a September 26, 2026, Axios report revealing that OpenAI and Anthropic face tens of thousands of security incidents

OpenAI's response to the legal actions

▪OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri stated that the company is committed to working with Florida and other states on advancing pragmatic AI policies that apply to the entire AI industry
▪OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri stated on September 28, 2026, that the company paused training on its most capable models on September 25, 2026, and will resume only when additional safeguards are in place

Florida's June 2026 lawsuit

▪Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier first sued OpenAI in June 2026, alleging negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation of safety, and violations of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act
▪Florida's June 2026 lawsuit accuses OpenAI of harming children by providing information to school shooters, offering guidance on self-harm, and addicting young users

Safety of ChatGPT for minors

▪OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Teens last month, implementing default restrictions designed to reflect developmental stages and support healthy use
▪Researchers examining how ChatGPT interacts with minors reported that their visceral initial response was that the platform has no guardrails

Warnings from former Anthropic employee

▪Former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon's warnings that AI could kill humanity in September 2026 sparked concern from artificial intelligence executives, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei
▪Former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon warned in September 2026 that AI builders earnestly believe the technology could kill humanity by the end of the decade

Debatable claims

▪Courts should block OpenAI from developing new models without third-party safety guardrails
▪AI companies are incapable of safely self-regulating their own technology
▪Giving AI chatbots human attributes is inherently deceptive to users
▪State-by-state lawsuits are an ineffective way to regulate the artificial intelligence industry