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Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Tuesday said the state launched a criminal investigation into the artificial intelligence app ChatGPT and its parent company, OpenAI. He decided to look at the AI’s use for criminal behavior after reviewing records of chats between ChatGPT and the gunman in last year’s Florida State University shooting.
Phoenix Ikner, age 21, is charged with killing two people and injuring several others. His trial is set for October, according to local news. He is presumed legally innocent until proven guilty in court.
OpenAI might bear criminal responsibility for allowing the chatbot to advise the alleged shooter on aspects of the shooting, Uthmeier said. The chats included discussions of types of guns and ammunition, ideal location and time of day for the shooting, and how to get national news coverage of the shooting, Uthmeier said.
The attorney general’s office subpoenaed OpenAI for information about its internal training materials and policies regarding threats of harm, cooperation with law enforcement, and reporting policies. He also asked the company to disclose whether any policies were changed during the period of time in which the shooter messaged the chatbot.
How did OpenAI respond? A company spokeswoman said that OpenAI bore no responsibility for the shooting and that the company proactively shared information with law enforcement, according to the Associated Press. ChatGPT gave truthful responses that included information that could be easily found on the internet, and it did not encourage anything illegal, she said.
Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report on the shooting.