United States of America

Florida Probes OpenAI Over FSU Shooting

Is OpenAI criminally responsible for the FSU shooting or is blaming the AI company setting a dangerous precedent?

Published APR 22

Story

Above: The OpenAI website homepage displayed on a computer screen in Creteil, France, on April 16. Image credit: Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto/Getty Images

The Facts

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a criminal investigation into OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, on Tuesday, following a review of chat logs between the AI chatbot and Phoenix Ikner, the suspect in the April 2025 Florida State University (FSU) shooting.
Office of the Attorney General for the state of Florida
New York Post
CBS News
Ikner is accused by the state of killing two people and wounding six others at FSU's Tallahassee campus. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder, with his trial scheduled to begin in October.
Anadolu Agency
CNN
Scribd
Prosecutors allege that ChatGPT advised Ikner on what firearms and ammunition to use, the most effective time of day to encounter more people and where on campus would have the highest population density at the time of the attack.
Office of the Attorney General for the state of Florida on X
Uthmeier's office has since subpoenaed OpenAI for internal policies and training materials regarding self-harm, user threats of harm to others, cooperation with law enforcement and policies for reporting possible crimes, covering the period from March 1, 2024, through April 17, 2026.
Office of the Attorney General for the state of Florida
In a statement to multiple media outlets, an OpenAI spokesperson claimed that ChatGPT had provided only "factual responses" to Ikner's questions using information that "could be found broadly across public sources on the internet," and had not encouraged or promoted any illegal or harmful activity.
NBC
FOX News
Uthmeier initially launched the probe into the AI company and its chatbot in early April, citing not only its alleged role in the FSU shooting, but also the supposed risks posed by AI to U.S. national security, public safety and minors.
James Uthmeier on X
The Hill
The Wall Street Journal

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

Florida's criminal investigation into OpenAI is a necessary step toward holding AI companies accountable when their technology facilitates violence. ChatGPT's chat logs with the FSU gunman show a clear case of aiding and abetting under Florida law, making OpenAI just as responsible as the shooter. Legal action, therefore, is essential to ensure AI advances humanity and not its destruction.

James Uthmeier on X

Office of the Attorney General for the state of Florida

Narrative B

Blaming OpenAI for the FSU shooting is nonsensical. Rather than pinning responsibility on the individual at the heart of this case, the attorney general's probe assigns culpability to an AI tool. The fact that this same principle could be applied to the gun manufacturer or the producer of the getaway vehicle exposes the farcical nature of this inquiry, which sets a dangerous legal precedent.