Report from WBAP
In Brief – The State of Texas has sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, accusing them of misleading Texans about ChatGPT’s safety and asking a court to prohibit minors from using the chatbot in the state. The petition alleges violations of Texas consumer-protection law and the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act (SCOPE Act). It seeks to hold Altman personally liable, alleging he directed deceptive conduct and overruled employees seeking additional safety testing before GPT-4o’s release. Among other harms, the lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT contributed to suicides, mass shootings, addiction and diminished critical-thinking skills among minors. The petition also claims that OpenAI has its chatbots simulate human compassion to collect children’s data without parental oversight. The state seeks more than $1 million in monetary relief and civil penalties, and requests that the court appoints an independent evaluator to review safeguards and approve new Open AI models before they are released to Texas users, as well as prohibit the company from employing features encouraging compulsive use or falsely portraying human emotions. OpenAI says it has strengthened safeguards, introduced parental controls, consulted experts and supports industrywide AI safety standards.
Context – The Trump Administration’s initial commitment to largely unfettered AI development pushed global AI policy away from “safety” towards deregulation and investment. Even the EU is slowing some AI Act rules. However, US polling showed that both Democrats and Republicans, inundated by science fiction-style AI warnings, are worried, and many US states are now advancing regulatory proposals. While Democratic officials are especially enthusiastic about AI regulation, there is also a cadre of conservatives aggressively stoking AI fears and calling for controls. Paxton, a long-time antagonist of Big Tech, has previously sued many of the high profile digital companies, including Google, Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Roblox, Netflix and Discord. However, he won’t be challenging Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) as the most adversarial Republican in the Senate.