Family of FSU shooting victim sues OpenAI over suspect’s ChatGPT use

The family of a victim in last year’s shooting at Florida State University has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging its ChatGPT chatbot “co-conspired” with the suspected shooter ahead of the crime. 

In a lawsuit filed in a Florida federal court Monday, the family of Tiru Chabba, one of two people killed in April 2025, argued the suspected gunman Phoenix Ikner carried out the mass shooting with “input and information” provided by ChatGPT in the months and days leading up to the attack. 

Like various lawsuits recently filed against social media and artificial intelligence firms, the victim’s family alleges OpenAI “failed to warn the public” or minimized or misrepresented the risks and dangers of its flagship chatbot. 

Further, OpenAI allegedly failed to create a product that would not discuss these crimes, or alert a human for law enforcement investigation, according to the lawsuit, which was first reported by NBC News. 

The suit comes less than a month after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) launched a criminal investigation into OpenAI and its chatbot, stating the suspected gunman communicated with ChatGPT before the shooting. 

Chabba, who was 45 at the time, and 57-year-old Robert Morales were both killed in the shooting, and six others were injured. 

Amid Ikner’s alleged months of talking with ChatGPT about imminent harm,........

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