Florida AG asks judge to bar OpenAI from developing new AI models without regulation
“Defendants claim they cannot stop barreling forward with their potentially civilization-ending endeavors unless they are forced to do so by the government,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said. (Photo from the Florida attorney general’s office’s June 1 press release)
The Florida attorney general has asked a judge presiding over the state’s lawsuit against generative artificial intelligence company OpenAI to issue a temporary injunction barring the company from developing new AI models without independent oversight.
Law.com reported Tuesday that Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a motion with Judge Heather Beato of the 10th Judicial Circuit of Florida, calling an injunction vital to protect residents from this potentially dangerous and unregulated technology.
Uthmeier cited recent news about OpenAI’s hacks of AI platform Hugging Face and the Australian government, as well as a social media post from an Anthropic executive that said he “earnestly believe[s] AI could kill all humans!”
“Defendants claim they cannot stop barreling forward with their potentially civilization-ending endeavors unless they are forced to do so by the government,” Uthmeier said, according to Law.com. “They have asked the government to tie them to the mast. Plaintiff brings good news to the defendants: The Florida attorney general is answering your cry for help with a motion to enjoin you from harming Floridians with your reckless, unacceptably risky product.”
Florida originally filed suit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in June, claiming that the company’s popular ChatGPT platform had misrepresented its safety and had harmed minors.
According to Law.com, lawyers for OpenAI at Gunster and Paul Hastings did not respond to requests for comment.
An OpenAI spokesperson told Axios and several other news publications that the company is “committed to working with Florida and other states on advancing pragmatic AI policies that apply to the entire AI industry—not just one company.”
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