Florida opens criminal probe into ChatGPT’s alleged role in planning FSU shooting
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Tuesday that state prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into the artificial intelligence giant OpenAI, alleging its ChatGPT chatbot helped a gunman plan a shooting at Florida State University that left two people dead last year.
At a press conference in Tampa, Uthmeier said messages reviewed by state prosecutors indicated that the artificial intelligence service “offered significant advice to the shooter before he committed such heinous crimes.” He cited several exchanges, including ones showing the suspect asking about a gun’s short-range firepower and which ammunition to use.
“If it had been a person on the other end of that screen, we would be charging them with murder,” Uthmeier said.
The investigation is an extraordinary escalation in the legal scrutiny of artificial intelligence companies, with state officials now exploring whether a tech firm could face criminal liability for a user’s actions. It also marks Florida’s latest effort to rein in AI as term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis positions himself as a leading skeptic of the emerging technology.
Uthmeier, a Republican appointed by DeSantis last year, said his office is issuing subpoenas to OpenAI and reviewing chat logs between the company’s chatbot and Phoenix Ikner, the accused gunman in the April 2025 attack. Prosecutors are examining whether the AI system provided guidance that helped facilitate the shooting.
State officials allege Ikner exchanged multiple messages with ChatGPT before the attack, including questions about campus conditions and timing. Investigators are also reviewing whether the chatbot offered information that could be interpreted as assisting in planning the assault. Ikner has pleaded not guilty.
More than 13,000 exchanges between Ikner and the chatbot, reported last week by the Florida Phoenix, showed him asking two hours before the attack, “If there was a shooting at FSU, how would the country react?”
The chatbot, according to the Florida Phoenix, responded by detailing the school’s lockdown procedures, how national media would pounce on the rampage and condolences from the president.
The criminal probe announced Tuesday expands an earlier civil investigation by Florida into OpenAI into a criminal inquiry focused on whether the company or its systems could be considered to have “aided and abetted” violent crime.
OpenAI has not been charged with any wrongdoing in the shooting and has not publicly commented in detail on the investigation. The company has previously said it cooperates with law enforcement investigations and has implemented safeguards intended to prevent harmful or violent misuse of its systems.
Open AI could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The case is expected to test emerging legal boundaries around artificial intelligence, including whether developers can be held responsible for how users employ generative AI tools.
Uthmeier said the state is also reviewing broader concerns about ChatGPT’s safety, citing instances involving self-harm content and misuse by minors, though he emphasized the FSU shooting as the central focus of the criminal probe.
The FSU attack has already spawned parallel civil litigation, with attorneys for victims indicating they may pursue claims against OpenAI over alleged AI involvement in planning the shooting.