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A coalition of state attorneys general has reportedly opened an investigation into OpenAI.<\/p>\n
The company was served with a subpoena from New York\u2019s attorney general on Friday<\/a>, according to The Wall Street Journal. That subpoena sought documents related to a broad range of topics including the company\u2019s advertising, user engagement and retention, model sycophancy, handling of consumer data and health data, and treatment of minors and seniors.<\/p>\n TechCrunch has reached out to OpenAI and the New York attorney general\u2019s office for confirmation. A company spokesperson told the WSJ that OpenAI is cooperating with the investigation.<\/p>\n \u201cAI is a new and powerful technology, and we work every day to safely bring its benefits to people in a responsible way,\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cWe take the concerns raised by state attorneys general seriously and intend to engage constructively with their offices.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Bloomberg<\/a>, the spokesperson also said that ChatGPT now \u201cincludes a more protective experience for minors and people experiencing difficult situations, with safeguards that direct them to real-world resources and trusted human contacts.\u201d The company declined to specify which states are involved in the investigation or to share more details about what information was requested.<\/p>\n OpenAI recently defeated its co-founder Elon Musk<\/a> in a high-profile trial, after Musk accused the company of violating its founding agreement. (Musk\u2019s lead attorney said he will appeal the decision.)<\/p>\n However, OpenAI still faces lawsuits over everything from alleged copyright infringement<\/a> to ChatGPT\u2019s alleged role in suicide<\/a>. Earlier this month, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman<\/a>, claiming that OpenAI and Altman \u201cignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at great risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians.\u201d<\/p>\n Altman recently apologized to the community of Tumbler Ridge, Canada<\/a> after a mass shooting; he acknowledged that OpenAI failed to alert law enforcement after the company flagged and banned the suspected shooter\u2019s ChatGPT account.<\/p>\n The company announced this week that it has filed confidentially to go public<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n