Texas sued OpenAI and Sam Altman over how ChatGPT's safety was marketed

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging the company marketed ChatGPT as safe and reliable while staying quiet about its risks. The suit was filed on Friday, October 23, in Collin County district court and names OpenAI Global LLC, affiliated entities and Altman personally.

The case relies on two state laws: the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the state's general consumer protection statute, and the newer SCOPE Act, which governs how digital services treat minors. The complaint opens with a 2015 quote attributed to Altman: "AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime, there'll be great companies."

Paxton's office describes a long list of alleged harms. "Mass shooters have been aided and abetted in deadly rampages, vulnerable people have been encouraged into suicide, professionals have suffered public humiliation, users have lost critical thinking skills, and minors have become addicted to a tool that fakes human compassion to collect their data with no parental oversight," the press release said, blaming what it called the company's quest to win the AI arms race.

The state is asking for a broad injunction. According to The Texas Tribune, it would require OpenAI to block minors from the product and to get third party approval of any new model from a court appointed evaluator, among other restrictions. Paxton, who is running for the US Senate, has filed a series of suits against large tech companies. One report counts Texas as the tenth state to sue OpenAI, and the case lands as the company seeks funding at a valuation reported at up to $1.25 trillion.

Why it matters for builders: state attorneys general are now testing consumer protection and child safety laws against AI products directly. If remedies like age blocking or outside model review stick, they could spread to other chat products, including apps built on top of OpenAI's API.

What's next: watch for OpenAI's response and any motion to move or dismiss the case, and whether other states copy the request for court supervised model approvals.

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