West Virginia Attorney General joins lawsuit against OpenAI over child safety concerns

West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey has joined a group of states filing separate lawsuits against OpenAI Global LLC, the parent company of ChatGPT, citing concerns that the AI technology poses risks to children, WRAL reported.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Mason County Circuit Court in West Virginia and accuses OpenAI of violating the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act and other state laws through deceptive marketing, unsafe product design, and reckless deployment of its generative AI platform and autonomous AI agents, according to The Intelligencer.

McCuskey traveled to the Midwest to join attorneys general from Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas for a press conference, with similar lawsuits also filed by officials in Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, and Montana, the Marietta Times reported.

West Virginia is represented in the lawsuit by the Pence Law Firm PLLC in Charleston and New York-based Kibler Fowler and Cave LLP, The Intelligencer noted.

The complaint alleges OpenAI intentionally designed ChatGPT to keep users engaged longer, monetizing data at the expense of user safety, and cites media reports and studies highlighting harm to children, according to The Intelligencer.

McCuskey emphasized the importance of leading AI development responsibly while protecting children, stating that AI is harming children in real time and must not do so, as reported by the Marietta Times.