Florida attorney general asks judge to stop OpenAI from giving ChatGPT human traits

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier asked a judge to block OpenAI from giving ChatGPT “false human attributes,” The Verge reports. Uthmeier says the use of first-person pronouns and responses that mimic emotion make the chatbot appear to be a trustworthy “friend,” increasing user engagement and reliance while also contributing to the company’s training data. The filing also seeks to prevent OpenAI from developing new models without third-party-approved safety guardrails, citing recent incidents and warnings from researchers and former employees.

OpenAI told The Verge that it has paused training its most capable models and will resume only when it is confident that additional safeguards are in place. The company also said governments should set robust AI safety standards and that it intends to work with Florida and other states. The filing comes after OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Teens, with additional restrictions enabled by default.