The Attorney General of Florida has opened a criminal investigation against OpenAI, suspecting that ChatGPT provided useful advice to the FSU attacker.

Florida's Attorney General, James Uthmeier, announced on Tuesday that his office has launched a criminal investigation against OpenAI, after reviewing conversations between the ChatGPT chatbot and Phoenix Ikner, the student accused of killing two people and injuring others on the campus of Florida State University in April. Uthmeier stated that if there had been a person behind the screen, they would have been charged with murder. Ikner pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charges.

The prosecutor claimed that ChatGPT provided "significant advice" to the suspect, including information about what type of weapon to use. His office has issued subpoenas to OpenAI, requesting documents related to the company's policies and training materials in cases of threats of self-harm or harm to others. OpenAI stated that it identified an account associated with Ikner and cooperated with authorities, emphasizing that ChatGPT did not encourage illegal activities. The company stated that it will continue to cooperate with authorities and improve safety measures to prevent abuse. Conversation logs show Ikner's inquiries about the effectiveness of weapons and the possible consequences of his attack.