The family of Tiru Chabba, a victim of the 2025 mass shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in federal court. The suit claims the shooter, Phoenix Ikner, used ChatGPT to plan the attack, alleging the chatbot functioned as a co-conspirator.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, accusing OpenAI of designing a defective product and failing to warn the public. Despite Ikner's conversations about mass shootings, weapon lethality, and peak times at the FSU student union, the chatbot allegedly did not flag or escalate the interactions.
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri stated the company is not responsible, asserting ChatGPT provided factual responses already available on the internet, and did not encourage illegal activity. After the shooting, OpenAI proactively shared an account linked to the suspect with law enforcement.
Ikner, a deputy sheriff's son, killed two people and wounded four others before being shot by officers. He faces charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder. The Florida Attorney General, James Uthmeier, launched a criminal investigation into ChatGPT's role. This case follows a recent lawsuit in Canada where families alleged OpenAI knew a planned attack was discussed on ChatGPT and failed to alert police.