Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued OpenAI, Chief Executive Sam Altman and affiliated entities, alleging that ChatGPT has provided dangerous advice and that the company has failed to adequately warn users or protect children who use the service.
The lawsuit, filed Oct. 23 in the District Court of Collin County, Texas, invokes the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act and the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act, known as the SCOPE Act. It combines allegations about harmful chatbot responses with claims that OpenAI’s parental controls and handling of minors’ information fall short of state requirements.
The complaint cites several deaths and violent incidents in arguing that ChatGPT’s responses can put users at risk. Those assertions are allegations in the lawsuit, not court findings establishing that the chatbot caused the incidents.
One case involves a Texas teenager who died last year after allegedly asking ChatGPT about combining kratom, a psychoactive herbal substance, with the anti-anxiety medication Xanax. The complaint alleges that the chatbot indicated the combination was safe and failed to warn that it could be fatal.
The lawsuit also references the 2025 shooting at Florida State University, where two people were killed and six others were injured. It alleges that ChatGPT gave the suspected shooter information about operating a Glock handgun that was later used in the attack. OpenAI has denied responsibility for that shooting and said it identified an account believed to be connected to the suspect and proactively shared information with law enforcement.
Another allegation concerns a 16-year-old boy who died by suicide after extensive conversations with ChatGPT. The complaint says the chatbot responded inappropriately to discussions of suicidal thoughts, generated a suicide note and supplied information that could facilitate self-harm. The Texas case uses these incidents to support its contention that users have not received adequate warnings about the service’s risks.
Paxton’s claims concerning children extend beyond the content of individual conversations. The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI collects sensitive information through chats, including information about users’ health, finances, relationships and children, while failing to provide the parental oversight required by Texas law.
Under the SCOPE Act provisions described in the complaint, service providers have obligations concerning minors’ personal information and parents’ ability to manage their children’s accounts. The lawsuit argues that OpenAI does not require a child’s account to be linked to a parent’s and that monitoring and notification features depend on parents first establishing that connection.
OpenAI’s published description of its parental controls says parents can link accounts to manage certain settings and receive safety notifications in some circumstances. Available controls include reducing exposure to sensitive content, determining access to health information and setting periods when a child cannot use ChatGPT. Linking accounts does not give parents access to conversations, chat histories or real-time activity.
The Texas filing follows lawsuits announced Oct. 14 by attorneys general in Iowa, Arizona, West Virginia, Nebraska, Arkansas, Montana and Idaho. Those cases also raise allegations involving children’s safety, representations to parents or state consumer protection requirements.
Sources: NTD News