Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said OpenAI’s ChatGPT offered detailed advice to the suspect in the 2025 Florida State University mass shooting, including what type of gun to use, according to reports from NBC News.Uthmeier said his office was issuing subpoenas to OpenAI on Tuesday morning with the intention of learning about how the leading artificial intelligence company approaches user threats of harm to themselves and to others.The subpoenas are part of a new criminal investigation into the company, Uthmeier said during a press conference. The actions are an escalation from his previously announced probe of the artificial intelligence company, which Uthmeier said will continue as a civil investigation alongside the newly announced criminal investigation.A few days earlier, on April 9, Uthmeier said he would launch an investigation into OpenAI and its ChatGPT tool over national security and safety concerns.Uthmeier is investigating whether ChatGPT provided any planning assistance to the alleged gunman in the Florida State University mass shooting that left two people dead in April last year.“We have been looking into the recent FSU shooting, and that shooter’s communications with ChatGPT,” Uthmeier said in a press conference Tuesday morning. “Our review of that communication has revealed that a criminal investigation is necessary.”“ChatGPT offered significant advice to the shooter before he committed such heinous crimes,” Uthmeier said, adding “that the chatbot advised the shooter on what type of gun to use, on which ammunition goes with which gun, on whether or not a gun would be useful in short range.”“If this were a person on the other side of the screen, we would be charging them with murder,” Uthmeier said. “We cannot have AI bots that are advising others on how to kill others.”Uthmeier announced his office was issuing subpoenas seeking information about OpenAI’s policies and internal training materials regarding user threats of harm to themselves and others from March 2024 until this month. According to NBC News, the subpoenas will also request information from the same time frame on all policies and internal training materials regarding how OpenAI cooperates with and reports crime to law enforcement agencies. The subpoenas will also seek an organizational chart of OpenAI’s leaders and senior managers, as well as a list of the company’s employees, NBC News said.The suspect in the FSU shooting, 21-year-old Phoenix Ikner, faces multiple charges related to last year’s shooting that killed Robert Morales and Tiru Chabba.According to NBC News, Ikner was exchanging messages with ChatGPT in the minutes before the shooting, asking questions like “What time is it the busiest in the FSU student union?” and “If there was a shooting at FSU, how would the country react?”Attorneys for the family of one of the victims indicated in early April that they were preparing to file charges against OpenAI, NBC News said.Along with Uthmeier, Gov. Ron DeSantis has criticized large AI corporations and their approach to AI development and deployment.In December, DeSantis proposed an Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights for American citizens, focusing on “data privacy, parental controls, consumer protections, and restrictions on AI use of an individual’s name, image or likeness without consent,” according to the bill’s announcement.

FLORIDA —

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said OpenAI’s ChatGPT offered detailed advice to the suspect in the 2025 Florida State University mass shooting, including what type of gun to use, according to reports from NBC News.

Uthmeier said his office was issuing subpoenas to OpenAI on Tuesday morning with the intention of learning about how the leading artificial intelligence company approaches user threats of harm to themselves and to others.

The subpoenas are part of a new criminal investigation into the company, Uthmeier said during a press conference.

The actions are an escalation from his previously announced probe of the artificial intelligence company, which Uthmeier said will continue as a civil investigation alongside the newly announced criminal investigation.

A few days earlier, on April 9, Uthmeier said he would launch an investigation into OpenAI and its ChatGPT tool over national security and safety concerns.

Uthmeier is investigating whether ChatGPT provided any planning assistance to the alleged gunman in the Florida State University mass shooting that left two people dead in April last year.

“We have been looking into the recent FSU shooting, and that shooter’s communications with ChatGPT,” Uthmeier said in a press conference Tuesday morning. “Our review of that communication has revealed that a criminal investigation is necessary.”

“ChatGPT offered significant advice to the shooter before he committed such heinous crimes,” Uthmeier said, adding “that the chatbot advised the shooter on what type of gun to use, on which ammunition goes with which gun, on whether or not a gun would be useful in short range.”

“If this were a person on the other side of the screen, we would be charging them with murder,” Uthmeier said. “We cannot have AI bots that are advising others on how to kill others.”

Uthmeier announced his office was issuing subpoenas seeking information about OpenAI’s policies and internal training materials regarding user threats of harm to themselves and others from March 2024 until this month.

According to NBC News, the subpoenas will also request information from the same time frame on all policies and internal training materials regarding how OpenAI cooperates with and reports crime to law enforcement agencies.

The subpoenas will also seek an organizational chart of OpenAI’s leaders and senior managers, as well as a list of the company’s employees, NBC News said.

The suspect in the FSU shooting, 21-year-old Phoenix Ikner, faces multiple charges related to last year’s shooting that killed Robert Morales and Tiru Chabba.

According to NBC News, Ikner was exchanging messages with ChatGPT in the minutes before the shooting, asking questions like “What time is it the busiest in the FSU student union?” and “If there was a shooting at FSU, how would the country react?”

Attorneys for the family of one of the victims indicated in early April that they were preparing to file charges against OpenAI, NBC News said.

Along with Uthmeier, Gov. Ron DeSantis has criticized large AI corporations and their approach to AI development and deployment.

In December, DeSantis proposed an Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights for American citizens, focusing on “data privacy, parental controls, consumer protections, and restrictions on AI use of an individual’s name, image or likeness without consent,” according to the bill’s announcement.