Widow of a man killed in A mass shooting last year at Florida State University OpenAI has filed a lawsuit against the maker of ChatGPT, blaming the company’s AI chatbot Contributing to the tragedy.
Prosecutors say they believe ChatGPT advised Phoenix Eckner about the location and time of day that would allow the greatest number of potential victims; What type of weapon and ammunition are used; And whether the weapon will be useful in the short term.
“OpenAI knew this would happen. It has happened before and it was only a matter of time before it happened again,” Vandana Joshi said in a statement on Monday. Her husband, Tero Xaba, was one of two people killed and six others injured.
Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for OpenAI, denied any wrongdoing in “this horrific crime.”
“In this case, ChatGPT provided factual answers to questions with information that can be found widely across public sources on the Internet, and did not encourage or promote any illegal or harmful activity,” Pusateri said in an email Monday to The Associated Press.
The lawsuit was filed Sunday in federal court.
Eckner faces two counts of first-degree murder and several counts of attempted murder in the shooting that terrorized the campus in Tallahassee, the Florida capital, in April 2025. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty. Eckner has pleaded not guilty.
Separately, in April, Florida’s attorney general said there were Rare criminal investigation In ChatGPT about whether the app provides advice to Ikner.
Joshi said in a statement issued by her lawyer that OpenAI “put their profits over our safety and killed my husband. They must be held accountable before another family goes through this.”
Numerous civil lawsuits have sought damages from AI and technology companies due to the impact chatbots and social media have on the mental health of loved ones.
In March, Los Angeles jury Found both Meta and YouTube are responsible About harm to children who use their services. in new mexico, The jury decided that he was dead knowingly Harmful to children’s mental health She hid what she knew about the sexual exploitation of children on her platforms.