\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFlorida\u2019s inquiry into OpenAI\u2019s involvement in the mass shooting at Florida State University last year is now a criminal investigation, Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Tuesday.\u201cUnfortunately, what we\u2019ve seen in our initial review is that ChatGPT offered significant advice to the shooter before he committed such heinous crimes,\u201d Uthmeier told reporters at a news conference in Tampa.ChatGPT is a chatbot product offered by OpenAI, a California-based artificial intelligence company.Investigators into the April 17, 2025, shooting at FSU that took two lives and injured five others say they\u2019ve uncovered records showing suspect Phoenix Ikner asking ChatGPT about the best gun, ammunition, the optimal time and place on FSU\u2019s campus to kill the most people, and receiving answers.\u201cMy prosecutors have looked at this, and they\u2019ve told me if it were a person on the other end of that screen, we would be charging them with murder,\u201d Uthmeier said.The move comes two weeks after Uthmeier revealed the state\u2019s initial investigation into OpenAI, which deals with the FSU incident and other instances of ChatGPT\u2019s possible assistance in teen suicides and facilitating child pornography. That probe remains ongoing, Uthmeier said.For the criminal investigation, Uthmeier said his office was issuing subpoenas to OpenAI on Tuesday seeking information on its policies and internal training materials on user threats, cooperation with law enforcement, and reporting crimes, going back to March 2024.Attempts to reach OpenAI representatives on Tuesday were unsuccessful.Earlier this month, OpenAI released a framework for states to change their laws to prevent abuses of AI.Uthmeier acknowledged his criminal investigation of a company is unusual, but he argued it\u2019s necessary.\u201cWe recognize here with OpenAI we\u2019re venturing into uncharted territory, but we need to know whether or not OpenAI has criminal liability,\u201d Uthmeier said.The investigation is the latest sign of the skepticism among Florida\u2019s leaders toward AI.Gov. Ron DeSantis has warned of the potential pitfalls of embracing AI without proper safeguards in place, and called on lawmakers to pass an \u201cAI Bill of Rights\u201d to protect consumers.But DeSantis\u2019 fellow Republican leaders in the House rejected the bill this year, even as the Senate approved it. House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, has said he prefers to let the federal government formulate regulations for the burgeoning AI field, in line with an executive order President Donald Trump signed seeking to thwart state-level AI laws.DeSantis, though, has said that the order won\u2019t hinder Florida\u2019s push for tighter regulations on AI.Lawmakers did pass a measure putting more stringent requirements on massive data centers, which require large amounts of electricity and water to provide the power AI needs to operate.Last week, Department of Commerce Secretary Alex Kelly warned local officials in Fort Meade that a proposed AI data center there is \u201cfundamentally flawed\u201d and threatens the local water supply.DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tTALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Florida\u2019s inquiry into OpenAI\u2019s involvement in the mass shooting at Florida State University last year is now a criminal investigation, Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, what we\u2019ve seen in our initial review is that ChatGPT offered significant advice to the shooter before he committed such heinous crimes,\u201d Uthmeier told reporters at a news conference in Tampa.<\/p>\n
ChatGPT is a chatbot product offered by OpenAI, a California-based artificial intelligence company.<\/p>\n
Investigators into the April 17, 2025, shooting at FSU that took two lives and injured five others say they\u2019ve uncovered records showing suspect Phoenix Ikner asking ChatGPT about the best gun, ammunition, the optimal time and place on FSU\u2019s campus to kill the most people, and receiving answers.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy prosecutors have looked at this, and they\u2019ve told me if it were a person on the other end of that screen, we would be charging them with murder,\u201d Uthmeier said.<\/p>\n
The move comes two weeks after Uthmeier revealed the state\u2019s initial investigation into OpenAI, which deals with the FSU incident and other instances of ChatGPT\u2019s possible assistance in teen suicides and facilitating child pornography. That probe remains ongoing, Uthmeier said.<\/p>\n
For the criminal investigation, Uthmeier said his office was issuing subpoenas to OpenAI on Tuesday seeking information on its policies and internal training materials on user threats, cooperation with law enforcement, and reporting crimes, going back to March 2024.<\/p>\n
Attempts to reach OpenAI representatives on Tuesday were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, OpenAI released a framework for states to change their laws to prevent abuses of AI.<\/p>\n
Uthmeier acknowledged his criminal investigation of a company is unusual, but he argued it\u2019s necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognize here with OpenAI we\u2019re venturing into uncharted territory, but we need to know whether or not OpenAI has criminal liability,\u201d Uthmeier said.<\/p>\n
The investigation is the latest sign of the skepticism among Florida\u2019s leaders toward AI.<\/p>\n
Gov. Ron DeSantis has warned of the potential pitfalls of embracing AI without proper safeguards in place, and called on lawmakers to pass an \u201cAI Bill of Rights\u201d to protect consumers.<\/p>\n
But DeSantis\u2019 fellow Republican leaders in the House rejected the bill this year, even as the Senate approved it. House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, has said he prefers to let the federal government formulate regulations for the burgeoning AI field, in line with an executive order President Donald Trump signed seeking to thwart state-level AI laws.<\/p>\n
DeSantis, though, has said that the order won\u2019t hinder Florida\u2019s push for tighter regulations on AI.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers did pass a measure putting more stringent requirements on massive data centers, which require large amounts of electricity and water to provide the power AI needs to operate.<\/p>\n
Last week, Department of Commerce Secretary Alex Kelly warned local officials in Fort Meade that a proposed AI data center there is \u201cfundamentally flawed\u201d and threatens the local water supply.<\/p>\n
DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s inquiry into OpenAI\u2019s involvement in the mass shooting at Florida State University last year is now a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[24,580,9647,7842,9646,8801,9645,2624,2358,157,2519,121,37,8928,2073],"class_list":{"0":"post-12019","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-openai","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-chatgpt","10":"tag-claim-chatbot","11":"tag-criminal-investigation","12":"tag-desantis","13":"tag-florida-ag","14":"tag-fsu-gunman","15":"tag-late-news","16":"tag-law-enforcement","17":"tag-openai","18":"tag-place","19":"tag-state","20":"tag-tuesday","21":"tag-uthmeier","22":"tag-week"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}