{"id":233614,"date":"2026-04-09T22:13:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/09\/florida-ag-to-probe-openai-alleging-possible-connection-to-fsu-shooting-techcrunch\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T22:13:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:13:26","slug":"florida-ag-to-probe-openai-alleging-possible-connection-to-fsu-shooting-techcrunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/09\/florida-ag-to-probe-openai-alleging-possible-connection-to-fsu-shooting-techcrunch\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida AG to probe OpenAI, alleging possible connection to FSU shooting | TechCrunch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DW6l_tJkTFu\/\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a> on Thursday his office will investigate OpenAI for its alleged harm to minors, potential to threaten national security, and its possible link to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/local\/crime\/article304434411.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">shooting<\/a> that took place at Florida State University last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cChatGPT may likely have been used to assist the murderer in the recent mass school shooting at Florida State University that tragically took two lives,\u201d Attorney General Uthmeier said in a video posted to social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the day of the FSU shooting last April, the suspect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfla.com\/news\/hillsborough-county\/court-documents-show-florida-state-shooters-ai-chats-leading-up-to-the-attack\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">allegedly asked ChatGPT<\/a> how the country would react to a shooting at FSU, and what time it would be busiest at the FSU student union. These messages could potentially be used as evidence against the suspect in an October trial about the shooting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The attorney general cited further concerns about ChatGPT\u2019s encouragement of suicide in certain instances, which have been documented in <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/11\/23\/chatgpt-told-them-they-were-special-their-families-say-it-led-to-tragedy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">multiple lawsuits<\/a> brought by families against OpenAI. He also mentioned his concern that the Chinese Communist Party could use OpenAI\u2019s technology against the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs big tech rolls out these technologies, they should not \u2014 they cannot \u2014 put our safety and security at risk,\u201d he said. \u201cWe support innovation. But that doesn\u2019t give any company the right to endanger our children, facilitate criminal activity, empower America\u2019s enemies, or threaten our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\"\/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also called on the Florida legislature to \u201cwork quickly\u201d to protect children from the negative impacts of AI.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEach week, more than 900 million people use ChatGPT to improve their daily lives through uses such as learning new skills or navigating complex healthcare systems,\u201d an OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch. \u201cOur ongoing safety work continues to play an important role in delivering these benefits to everyday people, as well as supporting scientific research and discovery.\u201d <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-techcrunch-inline-cta\">\n<div class=\"inline-cta__wrapper\">\n<p>Techcrunch event<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-cta__content\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"inline-cta__location\">San Francisco, CA<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"inline-cta__separator\">|<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"inline-cta__date\">October 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">OpenAI added that it builds and continues to improve ChatGPT to understand user intent and respond in appropriate, safe ways. The company said it will cooperate with the Florida attorney general\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Wednesday, OpenAI unveiled its <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/04\/08\/openai-releases-a-new-safety-blueprint-to-address-the-rise-in-child-sexual-exploitation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Child Safety Blueprint<\/a>, which includes policy recommendations designed to improve children\u2019s safety as it relates to AI. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This action comes as chatbot makers face pressure to confront their potential role in creating child sexual abuse material (CSAM). According to a recent report from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iwf.org.uk\/news-media\/news\/dangerous-ai-child-sexual-abuse-reaches-record-high-as-public-backs-clampdown-on-uncensored-tools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Internet Watch Foundation<\/a>, there were over 8,000 reports of AI-generated CSAM in the first half of 2025, which represents a 14% increase year over year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">OpenAI\u2019s blueprint recommends updating legislation to protect against AI-generated abuse material, refining the reporting process to law enforcement, and instituting better preventative safeguards against abusive uses of AI tools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/04\/09\/florida-ag-to-probe-openai-alleging-possible-connection-to-fsu-shooting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on Thursday his office will investigate OpenAI for its alleged harm to minors, potential to threaten national security, and its possible link to a shooting that took place at Florida State University last year. \u201cChatGPT may likely have been used to assist the murderer in the recent mass school [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":233615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-233614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}