TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida escalated its dispute with OpenAI and the ChatGPT tool Tuesday as the state pursues potential criminal charges tied to the popular bot’s role in a deadly campus shooting at Florida State University last year. State Attorney General James Uthmeier said Florida’s OpenAI probe is expanding because a “criminal investigation is necessary” after state prosecutors determined ChatGPT “offered significant advice” to the suspected FSU shooter. The state issued subpoenas to the tech firm Tuesday, Uthmeier said, indicating “legal action” is expected to come soon.
“If this were a person on the other end of the screen, we would be charging them with murder,” Uthmeier said during an event in Tampa. Uthmeier, a Republican appointee of Gov. Ron DeSantis, earlier this month signaled Florida would investigate OpenAI and ChatGPT over public safety and national security concerns.
The attorney general elaborated on the probe Tuesday, explaining that Florida now is pursuing criminal and civil investigations into OpenAI surrounding the FSU shooting, child sex abuse material and the encouragement of suicide and self-harm. New revelations from the FSU shooting, though, are expected to a play a central role in Florida’s criminal investigation into OpenAI. The suspected FSU gunman — Phoenix Ikner, who was a 20-year-old student during the April 2025 shooting — allegedly communicated frequently with the ChatGPT bot about a campus attack.
Specifically, he allegedly asked for detailed information about operating guns and ammo, how the country might react and where he could find the most students. Ikner is accused of killing two people at FSU and wounding six others and awaits trial on multiple charges of murder and attempted murder. “Just because this is a chatbot in AI does not mean that there is not criminal culpability,” Uthmeier said Tuesday.
“So, we are going to look at who knew what, designed what, or should have done what. And if it is clear that individuals knew that this type of dangerous behavior might take place, that these types of unfortunate tragic events might take place, and nevertheless still turned to profits, still allowed this business to operate, then people need to be held accountable.” To that end, Uthmeier’s office subpoenaed OpenAI for scores of records, including policies and training materials over the years regarding threats of self-harm or harm to others, along with how the company cooperates with law enforcement.
Uthmeier also wants to know how OpenAI responded to the FSU shooting and more about the company’s executives and their roles. Officials with OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but previously said the company will cooperate with Uthmeier’s investigation. The attorney general’s inquiry into a top generative AI chatbot is the latest attempt by Florida to influence tech policy at the state level.
DeSantis has led the charge in seeking to regulate the technology during his last year in office and recently called for lawmakers to reconsider child and consumer AI protections in a special lawmaking session. His proposals, however, so far have failed to gain traction largely due to Florida House leaders supporting the Trump administration’s call for a nationwide AI framework.