Lawsuit against OpenAI claims that ChatGPT helped suspect plan FSU mass shooting
OpenAI sued by family of victim in deadly FSU shooting
Attorneys for the family of Tiru Chabba, the father of two killed in last year’s FSU mass shooting, held a news conference on Monday morning. They announced a formal lawsuit following the tragedy that claimed two lives and left six others wounded.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The family of FSU shooting victim Tiru Chabba is taking legal action against OpenAI.
The backstory:
Tiru Chabba was on the FSU campus as an employee of campus vendor Aramark Collegiate Hospitality before he was killed during a mass shooting. FSU student Phoenix Ikner was identified as the shooter by law enforcement.
Chabba’s family is represented by national civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers and Amy Willbanks of The Strom Law Firm, Gregorio Francis and J. Robert Bell III of Osborne, Francis and Pettis and Jim Bannister of Bannister, Wyatt and Stalvey. The attorneys announced a lawsuit against OpenAI on Monday morning, claiming that Ikner used the AI to help plan the shooting.
What they're saying:
"In this day and age, teenagers use ChatGPT as their personal life coach. Those aren't my words. Those are the words of the CEO of OpenAI. So the industry is very well aware of how their product is being used, and the fact that there are not safeguards in place that would prevent the act that happened here in Tallahassee, at Florida State, are just things that have to be answered for us and answered for the public," shared Francis.
The lawsuit claims that Phoenix Ikner, the FSU student accused of a deadly mass shooting on campus, did so with the "input and assistance of an artificial intelligence (AI) product the OpenAI defendants created, developed, maintained, monitored, and controlled called ChatGPT."
"If Phoenix Ikner had been speaking to a human about all of these plans that he had and the things that he was interested in and his mental state, a human would have escalated it to another human to make sure that somebody was checking on him and seeing if he was okay," explained Willbanks.
Florida launches criminal investigation into OpenAI
This lawsuit comes after Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier, announced the launch of a criminal investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT last month.
"The communication between the shooter and ChatGPT revealed that the chatbot advised the shooter on what type of gun to use. On which ammo went with which gun. On whether or not a gun would be useful in short range. ChatGPT advised the shooter on what time of day would be appropriate for the shooting to interact with more people and where on campus would be the place to encounter a higher population," the attorney general explained during a press conference in April.
FSU shooting: Suspect and legal proceedings
On April 17, 2025, two people were killed, and six people were injured.
The perpetrator of the Florida State University shooting was identified as Phoenix Ikner, a 20-year-old student and the son of a Leon County Sheriff’s deputy. According to Police Chief Revel, investigators believe Ikner acted entirely alone.
Ikner was armed with two firearms during the attack: a shotgun and a handgun, the latter of which was identified as a former deputy's service weapon, according to investigators.
He currently faces two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder. Ikner is still behind bars.
The Source: The story was written based on previous FOX 13 News reporting and a press conference held on Monday morning.