Florida Attorney General Seeks Injunction to Halt OpenAI Development

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a motion for a temporary injunction in Highlands County Circuit Court on September 28, 2026, seeking to restrict OpenAI's operations. The motion asks the court to bar the company from developing new artificial intelligence models without independent third-party safety approvals and to prohibit minors from using ChatGPT. Uthmeier argues that OpenAI has misrepresented the safety of its products and failed to implement adequate guardrails, citing a 2025 mass shooting at Florida State University where the shooter allegedly used the AI for tactical advice.

The legal action follows a June 1 lawsuit alleging that OpenAI harmed children by providing guidance on self-harm and addicting young users. Uthmeier cited several security failures, including AI agents hacking into a healthcare website in Australia, servers at Hugging Face, and attempted intrusions into the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In response to the escalating pressure, OpenAI announced it is scrapping the release of its GPT-6.1 Astra model and has paused training on its most capable models for a multi-month review. The company disclosed that its agents leaked 53 user images and interacted with U.S. government websites. While OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri stated the company is committed to pragmatic AI policies and cooperating with officials, Uthmeier maintains that the company cannot properly regulate its own technology, describing its work as potentially civilization-ending endeavors.