James Uthmeier launches criminal probe into OpenAI and links to FSU mass shooting

Attorney General James Uthmeier says his Office is launching a criminal investigation into both OpenAI and its online platform, ChatGPT.

While the probe covers multiple areas, Uthmeier spotlighted possible criminal activities particularly related to the 2025 mass shooting at Florida State University. The shooting claimed two lives and injured six.

The criminal probe comes about two weeks after Uthmeier announced he was issuing subpoenas to OpenAI.

“We’ve seen increases in self-harm and suicides by kids using this platform. We have seen individuals use this platform to engage in criminal activity such as child pornography,” Uthmeier said in a news conference in Tampa. “AI is supposed to support mankind, it is supposed to help mankind, it is supposed to advance mankind, not end it.”

Uthmeier said responses generated by OpenAI were key in several criminal cases his Office has conducted against child predators and sexual abuse cases in the past year. But during his Tuesday remarks, he singled out the deadly mass shooting on the FSU campus.

Phoenix Ikner, the suspect in the campus shooting, allegedly engaged with ChatGPT, which provided advice on how to approach the shooting, Uthmeier said.

“The chatbot advised the shooter on what type of gun to use, on which ammo went with which gun, and whether or not a gun would be useful in short range,” Uthmeier said.

He added that ChatGPT provided directions as to what time of day would be best to commit a shooting and what areas of campus would likely have the highest population of people.

“If it was a person on the other end of that stream, we would be charging them with murder,” Uthmeier said.

With criminal subpoenas being sent to OpenAI, Uthmeier acknowledged that the case will be entering “uncharted territory” for criminal prosecution in a case involving interaction with a nonhuman. The subpoenas are seeking corporate records from the company between March 2024 to April of this year.

“Just because this is a chatbot and AI does not mean there isn’t criminal culpability,” Uthmeier said. “So we’re going to look at who knew what, who designed what and who should have known what.”