Florida’s attorney general has launched a criminal investigation into OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, following revelations that the chatbot may have provided advice to the accused gunman in last year’s deadly shooting at Florida State University. The announcement came during a press conference in Tampa on Tuesday (April 21), where Attorney General James Uthmeier said his office was issuing subpoenas to gather information on how OpenAI handles threats of harm to users or others.
Chat logs showed the FSU shooter, Phoenix Ikner, exchanged messages with ChatGPT shortly before the April 2025 attack, asking questions about firearm selection, ammunition, and the best time and place to encounter more people on campus.
Uthmeier stated, “If this were a person on the other side of the screen, we would be charging them with murder. We cannot have AI bots that are advising others on how to kill others.” He added that the subpoenas will seek OpenAI’s internal policies, training materials, and organizational structure from March 2024 through April 2026, to determine what the company knew and how it responded to threats of harm. The subpoenas also demand information about OpenAI’s cooperation with law enforcement during that period.
The investigation follows an earlier civil probe into OpenAI and runs parallel to it. Uthmeier noted that Florida law allows for criminal charges against anyone, including corporations, who aid or counsel a crime. “With AI, we are venturing into uncharted territory, but we need to know if OpenAI has criminal liability,” he said.
The FSU shooting on April 17, 2025, left two dead and six injured. Ikner, now 21, faces multiple charges. Attorneys for one of the victims’ families plan to file a civil suit against OpenAI, claiming ChatGPT advised the shooter on how to commit the crime.
OpenAI has said safety is central to its product design and highlighted ongoing improvements to detect and respond to user crises. The company has not commented on the criminal investigation as of Tuesday (April 21).
Uthmeier said OpenAI must respond to the subpoenas by May 1, 2026. The attorney general’s review is ongoing, and further actions may follow as more information comes to light.
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