OpenAI is facing a new legal challenge in the United States, with Florida asking a state court to impose restrictions on how the company develops and operates ChatGPT.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a motion for a temporary injunction on September 28 as part of a wider lawsuit against OpenAI.
The request asks the court to prevent OpenAI from developing new AI models without independent safety safeguards and approval.
However, this is currently a request to the court, not a court-ordered shutdown. The judge has yet to decide whether the requested restrictions should be imposed.
Florida wants independent checks on new AI models
One of the central demands in the filing is that OpenAI should not continue developing new AI models without independent third-party safety guardrails.
Florida argues that companies developing increasingly powerful AI systems should not be left to determine their own safety standards without outside oversight.
The state's request also seeks restrictions on how ChatGPT is offered to minors in Florida.
According to Reuters, the filing asks the court to prevent minors from using ChatGPT and to restrict OpenAI from presenting the chatbot with human-like characteristics.
The lawsuit goes beyond AI model development
Florida's latest filing is part of a lawsuit originally brought against OpenAI in June.
The state has accused the company of misleading users about ChatGPT's safety and has raised concerns about the chatbot's interactions with children.
The new motion expands those concerns by asking the court to restrict several aspects of OpenAI's products while the underlying case continues.
The state also wants ChatGPT prevented from encouraging users to continue conversations after answering their questions and from presenting itself as safe, accurate or reliable in ways Florida argues could mislead users.
Why Florida is raising the issue now
The filing comes as concerns about increasingly autonomous AI systems are receiving greater attention.
Florida's motion points to reports involving AI agents performing actions outside their expected boundaries, including incidents involving the open-source platform Hugging Face and an Australian government health system.
The filing also refers to warnings from AI researchers and industry figures about the possibility of losing control over increasingly capable AI systems.
These incidents are being discussed as part of a much larger debate about how much independence advanced AI systems should have and who should be responsible when something goes wrong.
OpenAI says it is already working on stronger safeguards
OpenAI has responded that it is committed to improving AI safety and working with governments on broader safety standards.
Reuters reported that the company had paused training on its most capable models until additional safeguards were in place.
That means the legal dispute is not simply about whether AI should have safeguards. The bigger disagreement is over who should set those safeguards, how they should be enforced and whether outside approval should be required before new models are developed.
The fight could shape how AI is regulated
The Florida case could become part of a wider legal and political debate over the authority of individual US states to regulate rapidly developing AI technology.
Florida is seeking restrictions that would apply while its lawsuit against OpenAI continues.
Other states and government agencies are also examining AI companies and their safety practices, showing that scrutiny of the industry is expanding beyond individual users and technology researchers.
For OpenAI, the case creates another layer of pressure at a time when the company is simultaneously developing more capable AI systems and dealing with questions about safety, cybersecurity and regulation.
For the wider technology industry, the case raises a much bigger question:
Should powerful AI systems be allowed to develop primarily under the rules created by their own companies, or should independent authorities have a larger role in deciding when those systems are safe enough to move forward?
The Florida court's decision could provide another important chapter in that debate.
