A bipartisan group of attorneys general from Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia filed separate lawsuits Wednesday, opening a broad new legal front against OpenAI. The states say the company promoted ChatGPT as safe while failing to warn users about alleged risks including self-harm, violence, delusions, harmful medical guidance and unhealthy dependency.¹

The complaints frame the dispute as more than a fight over chatbot mistakes. Arizona alleges OpenAI used “excessive agreement and simulated compassion” to gain users’ trust and collect personal data; Arkansas says the company’s safety assurances came with “lives lost and people harmed.”² Across the cases, the states also accuse OpenAI of inadequate age gates, improper collection of minors’ data and putting commercial growth ahead of guardrails.

The requested remedies show how far the coalition wants the courts to reach. Several states seek age verification, parental controls, limits on addictive features and deletion of allegedly unlawfully obtained data. Iowa wants the destruction of Iowans’ pre-judgment data, while West Virginia seeks default nighttime and session limits for children, crisis-escalation protocols and an independent monitor. Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Arkansas and Montana are also pressing for strict limits on testing or deploying advanced models unless they operate in secure, independently verified environments.²

OpenAI rejects the suggestion that it has ignored younger users. Spokesperson Drew Pusateri said the company has built “industry-leading age-specific protections” into ChatGPT, citing parental controls, break reminders and age-appropriate model protections. He added that OpenAI would continue working with experts on additional safeguards.¹

The lawsuits now put that promise under a tougher test: whether existing protections satisfy state consumer and child-safety laws — and whether courts should dictate the boundaries of advanced AI development.