Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues OpenAI and Sam Altman, alleging ChatGPT was marketed as safe while harming Texans, and asks a court to gate new model releases
BREAKING: I sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman for lying to users and harming Texans.
Context
A state is asking a court to block ChatGPT for minors in Texas and to require an approved evaluator before any new OpenAI model reaches Texas users. If granted, that would be a new kind of release gate for a frontier lab.
The suit was filed in Collin County district court against OpenAI Global, LLC, affiliated entities and Sam Altman, according to the Texas Tribune. The attorney general's office says the claims fall under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The Texas Tribune also notes that Paxton is the Republican nominee for US Senate and that Elon Musk, an OpenAI rival, is a major backer of his campaign. The post was published at 2:46 PM Eastern on October 23.
Deep dive
Ken Paxton posted at 2:46 PM Eastern on October 23 that he sued OpenAI and Sam Altman for lying to users and harming Texans, attaching his office's press release. These are allegations in a lawsuit, and no court has ruled on them.
The press release says OpenAI marketed ChatGPT as safe and reliable but failed to protect Texans, including children, and lists harms it attributes to chatbots, from aiding mass shooters to encouraging suicide and addicting minors. It brings claims under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The Texas Tribune reports the case was filed in Collin County district court and that the petition opens with a 2015 quote attributed to Altman.
The requested relief goes further than the press release suggests. According to the Texas Tribune and a review of the petition by CTOL Digital, Texas asks the court to bar OpenAI from offering ChatGPT to minors in Texas and to block any new AI model for Texas users until an independent evaluator approved by the court signs off on its safety guardrails. CTOL Digital reports the petition also adds a count under the SCOPE Act, which covers services used by minors, and seeks more than $1 million plus disgorgement.
An OpenAI spokesperson told the Texas Tribune that the company works with experts on safeguards and is committed to working with states on AI policies that apply to the whole industry, not just one company. The Tribune notes the political backdrop: Paxton is running for US Senate, and Elon Musk, who competes with OpenAI, backs his campaign.
What to expect next
The next steps are procedural: OpenAI's formal response, any attempt to move the case, and whether Texas seeks a temporary injunction on the minors or model release requests. A court order requiring an approved evaluator before releases would be a first for a frontier lab and would likely be contested. Watch whether other states file similar suits, and whether the petition's use of OpenAI's own incident reports, as described by CTOL Digital, shapes how labs publish safety disclosures.