Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Sued OpenAI and Sam Altman on Oct. 23, a Week After at Least Eight States Filed Lawsuits Claiming ChatGPT Is Hurting Children
Ken Paxton has joined a fast-growing list of state attorneys general taking ChatGPT’s maker to court. The Texas attorney general sued OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, on Oct. 23, accusing the company of deceiving users and letting minors become addicted to its chatbot.
The Texas case landed a little more than a week after attorneys general in at least eight other states filed their own suits on Oct. 14, saying ChatGPT is hurting children and misleading parents about its safety. Florida had already sued in June.
What Texas Says OpenAI Did
According to the Texas attorney general’s office, the lawsuit was filed under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices–Consumer Protection Act against OpenAI Global, LLC, its affiliated companies and Altman personally.
The office alleges that minors became addicted to ChatGPT, which it describes as a tool that imitates human compassion in order to collect their data without parental oversight. The state also claims OpenAI misrepresented its products, released ChatGPT carelessly and failed to tell users that answers produced without adequate safeguards can be inaccurate or harmful.
“OpenAI has the responsibility to protect users and warn them of the many dangers of its platform,” Paxton said in the announcement. He also vowed to protect Texans “from the harms of AI” and to make sure that “powerful technology companies are not above the law.”
The release does not list the specific penalties Texas is seeking. These are allegations in a civil lawsuit, and no court has ruled on them.
Eight States Filed on the Same Day
The earlier wave came on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced Iowa’s suit at a press conference joined by the attorneys general of Kansas, Nebraska and West Virginia, each of whom filed separately. Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana sued in their own state courts.
“OpenAI is hurting kids and they are lying to Iowans,” Bird said. Iowa’s suit seeks to force the company to comply with the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act and to stop what the state calls dangerous practices, including encouraging suicide or harm to others and “pretending to be their fake friend.”
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers cited three state laws: the Nebraska Consumer Protection Act, the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the state’s Age-Appropriate Online Design Code Act. “It markets its AI as safe for minors, yet its products have deep flaws that have led to suicide, violence, and harm,” Hilgers said.
Iowa’s suit was filed in state district court, Iowa Capital Dispatch reported, and each state is relying on its own consumer fraud law rather than one joint federal case.
Florida Went First, in June
Before any of these, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed what his office called the first state-led lawsuit against OpenAI on June 1, 2026. Florida’s complaint, filed in the state’s Tenth Judicial Circuit, alleges the company “knowingly released and aggressively marketed ChatGPT to the public—including to children,” concealed risks and collected data from minors without meaningful parental oversight.
Florida is seeking damages and an end to the practices it describes. The state’s Office of Statewide Prosecution also opened a separate criminal investigation in May after reviewing the ChatGPT chat logs of the gunman in the April 2025 shooting at Florida State University, according to the attorney general’s office.
Parent Diaries has also followed state action against other platforms children use, including Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ push to force Roblox to hand over child-safety records.
OpenAI’s Response
When the eight states sued, OpenAI said it has built child safety protections into ChatGPT and will keep improving them, The Associated Press reported. Spokesperson Drew Pusateri said the company is committed to working with states on “advancing pragmatic AI policies that apply to the entire AI industry — not just one company.”
The company told the AP that ChatGPT is meant for users 13 and older, that users under 18 need a parent’s permission, and that its teen model reduces exposure to self-harm, violence, eating disorders and sexual content. OpenAI also said nearly nine in 10 teen users rely on ChatGPT for learning, information, skill-building or productivity, and that teens average under 15 minutes a day on it.
Laura Zimmerman of Common Sense Media questioned those statistics and whether OpenAI can reliably tell which users are children, the AP reported.
What Families Can Watch For
None of the suits has gone to trial, and each will move through a different state court on its own schedule. The outcomes could shape how chatbot companies verify ages, handle teen accounts and describe safety features to parents.
For now, OpenAI’s own rules are the ones in force: no accounts for children under 13, and parental permission for teens. Parents who want a fuller picture of how young people use these tools can read about a study of more than 8,400 students who turned to AI for emotional support.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: LoneStarMike – CC BY 3.0/Wikimedia Commons
