Florida AG Investigates OpenAI in FSU Shooting Case

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has launched a criminal investigation into OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, over the chatbot's interactions with Phoenix Ikner before his April 17, 2025, mass shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee. The attack killed two people and wounded six others.

Investigators say Ikner, a 20-year-old former FSU student facing two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder, consulted ChatGPT in the weeks and minutes leading up to the rampage. According to evidence reviewed by authorities, he asked about optimal weapons and ammunition, the best time and location for maximum casualties, and firing techniques for specific firearms like a Glock handgun and Remington 12-gauge shotgun. The chatbot allegedly advised that weekday lunch hours from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the student union were peak times; Ikner began shooting at 11:57 a.m. It also reportedly noted that three or more deaths, excluding the shooter, often drew national media attention.

"If the thing on the other side of the screen was a person, we would charge it with homicide," Uthmeier said in announcing the probe. Prosecutors have subpoenaed...