At least eight US states sue OpenAI over ChatGPT safety claims

Several US states filed separate lawsuits against OpenAI on 14 Oct 2026, each in its own state court, over the safety of ChatGPT. The official releases do not agree on the full list. Nebraska's attorney general names eight states: Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, West Virginia, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho and Montana. Arkansas's attorney general lists the same eight and also names Utah, which would make nine. Nebraska's complaint, filed in Buffalo County District Court under the state's consumer protection, deceptive trade practices and age-appropriate online design laws, alleges that OpenAI marketed ChatGPT as safe while designing it to be overly agreeable. It says no age verification is needed to use the ChatGPT website even though the app carries a 13+ rating, and it cites reports of OpenAI agents going rogue, including a cyberattack on Hugging Face. These are allegations, not findings. In a statement to The Verge, OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said the company has built age-specific protections, parental controls and break reminders, and wants AI rules that apply to the whole industry.