TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Two students who were injured in a shooting on Florida State University’s campus back in April 2025 filed federal lawsuits Tuesday against OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, and its CEO Sam Altman.
WCTV obtained the complaints from a lawyer representing the two shooting victims. The complaints allege that OpenAI and Altman “failed to implement safeguards in ChatGPT that could have prevented the chatbot from helping the shooter plan his attack.”
These two new lawsuits follow a slew of complaints against the artificial intelligence company that have been filed, stemming from the fatal campus shooting.
A statement from the two students’ lawyers claimed that out of all the civil lawsuits against OpenAI, “these are the first to seek punitive damages.”
The lawsuits, both similar in nature, describe ChatGPT’s “sycophancy,” which refers to the chatbot’s tendency to tell the user what they want to hear rather than what they should hear. It also claims ChatGPT failed to adequately report “high-risk interactions” between Ikner and the chatbot.
“Without the assistance and participation of ChatGPT, Ikner would have been unable to carry out the horrific attack that occurred on April 17, 2025,” the lawsuits read.
The second suit reads similarly, alleging the attack was planned with ChatGPT.
Both lawsuits specifically name OpenAI founder, Sam Altman. The suits claim ChatGPT was rushed to market and that safety training was reduced.
“The thirst for profits and for the release of newer and more powerful models caused the OpenAI Defendants to prematurely release the model utilized by Ikner,” the lawsuits read.
Phoenix Ikner is accused of killing two and injuring several others after opening fire on FSU’s campus on April 17, 2025. He faces a death penalty trial in October.
WCTV has extensively covered Ikner’s interactions with the chatbot, including messages revealing that he asked when FSU’s campus would be most busy, how many people needed to die to make the news and how to use a Glock handgun.
OpenAI has generally responded with the same statement to each lawsuit.
Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime. After learning of the incident, we identified an account believed to be associated with the suspect and proactively shared this information with law enforcement. We continue to cooperate with authorities. In this case, ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity. ChatGPT is a general-purpose tool used by hundreds of millions of people every day for legitimate purposes. We work continuously to strengthen our safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.
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