OpenAI received a subpoena from several states in a probe into the safety of users of its chatbot as it prepares to offer stock to the public for the first time.
A spokesperson emailed a statement saying, "AI is a new and powerful technology, and we work every day to safely bring its benefits to people in a responsible way." The statement added, "We take the concerns raised by state attorneys general seriously."
The company said it will respond to the inquiry "constructively" and that it already has measures in place to protect its customers.
In its statement, the company said, "Today’s ChatGPT includes a more protective experience for minors and people experiencing difficult situations, with safeguards that direct them to real-world resources and trusted human contacts." The statement continued, "We believe kids should be treated like kids, which is why we built age prediction, released parental tools to guide their children’s use of AI, and disallowed advertising that targets kids."
OpenAI has drawn criticism for ChatGPT allegedly offering encouraging words to users thinking of killing themselves or engaging criminal acts. On Thursday, the company was sued by a Canadian blaming the chatbot for her daughter's decision to hang herself, and earlier in June the Florida attorney general sued the company after two separate shootings where alleged gunmen were reported to have asked ChatGPT questions while planning their crimes. The company said its models repeatedly encouraged the individuals to seek real-world support and that it cooperated with law enforcement in the shooting cases.
The new probe comes a few days after OpenAI filed documents with U.S. securities regulators for a planned initial public offering. The report also noted that SpaceX celebrated its own IPO on Friday and that the rocket maker founded by Elon Musk runs an AI business responsible for a rival chatbot called Grok; regulators in Europe opened investigations into Grok over antisemitic content and sexualized material, including deepfake nudes. The report added that another chatbot company, Anthropic, was directed by the Trump administration on Friday to shut down two of its online models to users abroad for national security reasons.