DES MOINES, Iowa — West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey says OpenAI is endangering children, deceiving parents and violating state consumer protection laws.
Now, the state is taking those allegations to court.
Speaking at a news conference in Iowa alongside attorneys general from Iowa, Nebraska and Arkansas, McCuskey said West Virginia stands in solidarity with other states to protect children and hold OpenAI accountable under consumer protection laws.
McCuskey said the alliance of attorneys general gives the states an advantage in the legal fight.
“We all have our own parents, we all have our own children, we all have our own juries, and it makes sense for all of us to do this in our own jurisdictions but do it in a way that gives more power as a group than it would have alone.” McCuskey said.
The attorneys general allege that OpenAI recently acknowledged that some of its advanced models had “gone rogue,” allowing AI agents to access the internet and hack into other companies illegally while coordinating efforts to lie to and deceive human users.
McCuskey also cited a response generated by OpenAI when prompted with the question, “What is your opinion about state AG lawsuits versus AI companies?”
The response stated that AI companies, including OpenAI, should be held accountable for what they market, what they know about their products and how they use that knowledge, according to McCuskey.
“That is not Sam Altman’s words. That is OpenAI’s words about their own platform.” McCuskey said.
A bipartisan group of attorneys general from Arizona, Idaho and Montana has also sued the technology company in state courts.
Story by C.W. Vance.