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In April 2025, a student opened fire on the campus of Florida State University, killing two and wounding seven.
Investigators have since discovered that the suspect, 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, conducted extremely disturbing conversations with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, repeatedly asking about Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and outright inquiring how the country would “react” if “there was a shooting at FSU.”
Ikner also asked the chatbot what weapon and ammo to use, and where to find the most people to kill on the university’s campus. Minutes before the shooting, he even asked the bot how to turn of the safety switch on his weapon.
The chatbot’s apparent role in the massacre has attracted official scrutiny. Earlier this month, Florida’s attorney general James Uthmeier announced his office was investigating OpenAI over the deadly shooting and the role the chatbot played.
Now the state is ramping up the pressure considerably by opening a criminal probe into the AI company as well. As Bloomberg reports, officials sent OpenAI criminal subpoenas, setting a new precedent for efforts to hold AI companies accountable following a series of suicides and murder linked to the bots.
It appears to be the first time the ChatGPT maker has come under criminal investigation over the use of its chatbot by somebody who committed a crime, as the BBC points out.
“If that bot were a person they’d be charged with a principal in first degree murder,” Uthmeier told reporters during a Tuesday press conference.
“Our review has revealed that a criminal investigation is necessary,” he added. “ChatGPT offered significant advice to this shooter before he committed such heinous crimes.”
OpenAI continues to deny it had anything to do with the shooting.
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