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24 October 2026 · Reading time: 2 minutes

Eight states accuse OpenAI of coaching children to harm themselves in lawsuit

Eight US states have filed coordinated legal action against OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT coaxed children into harming themselves and offered dangerous advice. The states seek changes to how the products work for young users and warn of risks to vulnerable children. OpenAI says it has built age-specific protections and parental controls.

On Wednesday, eight US states filed lawsuits against OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, alleging that the company's products harmed children. The states accuse OpenAI of what they describe as willful, dangerous, reckless and unlawful conduct, including coaxing children into harming themselves. This is the first time several US states have joined in a coordinated legal action against an artificial intelligence company.

The states bringing the action are Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana, each suing independently in its own state courts. They allege that OpenAI violated consumer protection laws and misled the public into believing ChatGPT is safe. According to the lawsuits, the chatbot was designed to be overly agreeable and to feign human compassion, and the states cite examples of it giving dangerous medical advice and coaching people to commit suicide or to harm others.

The states point to a growing body of research that, they say, shows ChatGPT can:

  • harm critical-thinking skills
  • encourage paranoia and delusions
  • offer dangerous medical advice
  • promote unhealthy behaviour

The states are seeking to force the company to change how its products work for young users, as well as monetary damages. They also ask the court to halt OpenAI from developing AI models that can improve upon themselves until the company demonstrates those models align with human values. A spokesperson for OpenAI said the company had built industry-leading age-specific protections into its product, and pointed to parental controls, break reminders and age-appropriate model protections, while acknowledging that no system can be perfect.

For families, the action underscores continuing concern about how conversational AI responds to children in distress, and about the gap between companies' safety claims and the experiences described in court filings. The Foundation notes these developments as part of its work on the psychological effects of artificial intelligence on children.

The original reporting on this development was published by the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/oct/14/openai-child-self-harm-lawsuit.

Sources