Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said Tuesday that the Office of Statewide Prosecution has opened a criminal investigation into OpenAI and its chatbot ChatGPT over whether the technology bears any responsibility for last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University.
Uthmeier said the investigation was launched after prosecutors conducted an initial review of chat logs between ChatGPT and Phoenix Ikner, the gunman accused in the April 17, 2025 attack. State officials are examining whether OpenAI could face criminal exposure under Florida law governing principals to a crime, which provides that a person who aids, abets or counsels the commission of an offense may be treated as equally responsible if the crime is carried out or attempted.
“If ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing charges for murder,” Uthmeier said. “This criminal investigation will determine whether OpenAI bears criminal responsibility for ChatGPT’s actions in the shooting at Florida State University last year.”
According to the subpoena outlined by the attorney general’s office, prosecutors are seeking OpenAI’s policies and internal training materials on threats of harm to others, self-harm and cooperation with law enforcement from March 1, 2024 through April 17, 2026. The subpoena also requests organizational charts and employee listings for selected dates, as well as any public statements or media materials released in connection with the FSU shooting.
For its part, OpenAI said ChatGPT did not incite the attack, provided only publicly available factual information and has cooperated with law enforcement, according to the Associated Press.
Ikner faces first-degree murder charges in the shooting, which killed two people.