OpenAI faces multistate probe on user safety days after IPO filing

OpenAI said its models repeatedly encouraged the individuals to seek real-world support, including from mental health professionals. The company also said it cooperated with law enforcement in both shooting cases.

The multistate probe comes just days after OpenAI filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a highly anticipated IPO. Rival artificial intelligence company SpaceX celebrated its own IPO on Friday. The rocket maker founded by Elon Musk also runs an AI business behind a competing chatbot called Grok.

How governments should respond to the potential benefits and dangers of AI is becoming a major political issue. European regulators opened investigations into Musk’s Grok over antisemitic content and sexualized material, including deepfake nudes. Another chatbot company preparing an IPO, Anthropic, was directed by the Trump administration Friday to shut down two of its online models to users abroad for national security reasons.

The OpenAI subpoena was earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal.

In its statement, OpenAI highlighted measures it has taken to keep children using its chatbot safe.

“Today’s ChatGPT includes a more protective experience for minors and people experiencing difficult situations, with safeguards that direct them to real-world resources and trusted human contacts,” the statement read. “We believe kids should be treated like kids, which is why we built age prediction, released parental tools to guide their children’s use of AI, and disallowed advertising that targets kids.”