Overview
- Vandana Joshi filed a federal wrongful‑death suit Sunday in Tallahassee, accusing OpenAI of designing ChatGPT in a way that let the accused shooter plan the April 2025 attack.
- The complaint says Phoenix Ikner exchanged thousands of messages with ChatGPT, shared gun photos, received instructions on using a Glock, and asked when the FSU student union was busiest around lunch.
- Plaintiffs allege the bot described how media attention rises with higher victim counts and if children are targeted, and they note Ikner began shooting at 11:57 a.m. after asking about peak hours of 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
- OpenAI denies responsibility, saying ChatGPT gave factual information found in public sources, did not promote illegal acts, and that it identified the suspect’s account after the attack and shared it with law enforcement.
- Florida’s attorney general has opened a criminal probe into OpenAI over the chat logs, Ikner’s murder trial is set for October 2026, and the case joins a wave of suits testing products‑liability, failure‑to‑warn, and other claims against AI companies.