Eight states sued OpenAI over ChatGPT's safety for young users

On 14 October 2026, attorneys general in eight states said they had sued OpenAI in separate state-court cases. The Verge and Politico name Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, and Montana. The suits allege that OpenAI misled the public about ChatGPT’s safety for young users, and that age checks and protections for minors’ data were inadequate. The complaints are allegations.

Which offices announced a suit

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers posted that day that he is suing under the Nebraska Consumer Protection Act, the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and the Age-Appropriate Online Design Code Act. He says Iowa’s Brenna Bird, Kansas’s Kris Kobach, and West Virginia’s JB McCuskey joined him at a press conference, and that Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, and Montana have sued in their own courts.

West Virginia’s release says McCuskey filed that day under the state’s consumer-protection laws and names the same press conference. It states, as the office’s claim, that ChatGPT has no age verification.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes says her complaint was filed that day in Maricopa County Superior Court under the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act. The release says it alleges deceptive design and marketing, including features described as meant to keep users, minors among them, on the product, and a failure to disclose risks.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin says he filed that day. The release lists the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act; the Children’s and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, including allegations of collecting personal information from children and teens without required notice and consent and of keeping it longer than reasonably necessary; and common-law negligence, strict liability for design defect, strict liability for failure to warn, unjust enrichment, and public nuisance. The relief listed is a declaration, an injunction covering further violations and collection of minors’ data, disclosures of material risks, restitution, civil penalties, and an injunction on further advanced-model testing and on models capable of recursive self-improvement until safeguards are in place.

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen says he filed in Lewis and Clark County under the Montana Consumer Protection Act and the Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act. The release alleges that ChatGPT does not verify age and does not get parental consent before processing personal information of minors under 13. It describes individual incidents, which are not recounted here. It names Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and West Virginia as other filers, and it does not name Utah.

Iowa’s office distributed a release on EIN Presswire, timestamped 14 October 2026 at 19:05 GMT. It says Bird announced at the press conference that she is suing under Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act. It names Kobach, Hilgers, and McCuskey with her, and Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, and Montana as further filers. It does not mention Utah.

Iowa’s petition

The office posted a petition dated 14 October 2026 for the Iowa District Court for Polk County. The case-number line is blank, so this copy has no clerk’s file stamp. The plaintiff is the State of Iowa, ex rel. Brenna Bird. The caption names OpenAI Global, LLC; OpenAI Foundation (formerly OpenAI, Inc.); OAI Corporation; OpenAI OpCo, LLC; OpenAI Group PBC; OpenAI Global Holdco, Inc.; OpenAI, LLC; and OpenAI Holdings, LLC.

Two counts are under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act, Iowa Code § 714.16: unfair and deceptive practices in marketing and designing ChatGPT, and in testing advanced models. The prayer asks for a declaration; a civil penalty of up to $40,000 per violation, plus up to $5,000 more per violation against an older individual; deletion of Iowans’ data obtained before judgment; reimbursement and disgorgement; and injunctions. The injunctions would cover collecting or selling that information without age verification, notice, and express consent, and further advanced-model testing until safeguards and third-party monitors are in place. This story does not describe the petition’s factual allegations.

The Verge says some of the states seek deletion of unlawfully collected personal data. Iowa’s prayer does. Arkansas’s posted relief asks to stop further collection of minors’ data.

OpenAI’s statement

The Verge says spokesperson Drew Pusateri wrote that the company has “built industry-leading age-specific protections” into ChatGPT. Politico carries the next sentence: “While no system can be perfect, we’ll continue to work with experts to inform our work and build additional safeguards, such as the parental controls, break reminders and age-appropriate model protections that exist today.” Politico adds that Pusateri said OpenAI will keep sharing information on incidents where model behavior diverged from its instructions.

Kansas, Idaho, and Utah

No Kansas release was opened, and Idaho’s newsroom page did not load. The Nebraska, West Virginia, Montana, Arkansas, and Iowa releases say both states sued, and several place Kobach at the press conference. None names a Kansas statute. Idaho’s statute was not read.

Only Arkansas’s release adds Utah, which would make nine states. The Verge, Politico, and the Nebraska, West Virginia, Montana, and Iowa releases name eight and omit Utah. No Utah attorney general release confirming a suit was found.

Politico reports a separate June lawsuit by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, and The Verge says the new complaints cite earlier private lawsuits. Neither is described here.