OpenAI faces investigation from state attorneys general

A coalition of state attorneys general has opened an investigation into OpenAI, with the company receiving a subpoena from New York's attorney general on Friday, according to a report. The probe seeks documents on advertising, user engagement, and consumer data handling. The subpoena, served by New York's attorney general, requests materials covering advertising, user engagement and retention, model sycophancy, handling of consumer and health data, and treatment of minors and seniors [1]. An OpenAI spokesperson said the company is cooperating. "AI is a new and powerful technology, and we work every day to safely bring its benefits to people in a responsible way," the spokesperson stated. "We take the concerns raised by state attorneys general seriously and intend to engage constructively with their offices" [1]. The spokesperson added that ChatGPT now "includes a more protective experience for minors and people experiencing difficult situations, with safeguards that direct them to real-world resources and trusted human contacts" [1]. OpenAI declined to specify which other states are involved or share further details on the information requested [1]. The investigation adds to a growing list of legal and regulatory pressures on the San Francisco-based company. OpenAI, founded as a nonprofit in 2015, developed the GPT family of large language models and released ChatGPT in November 2022, a product credited with catalyzing widespread interest in generative AI [2]. The company's structure has since evolved: a for-profit subsidiary was created in 2019, and a 2025 restructuring converted it into a public benefit corporation 26% owned by the original nonprofit [2]. OpenAI has faced multiple lawsuits in recent years. In 2023 and 2024, authors and media companies sued for alleged copyright infringement over the use of their work to train OpenAI's products [2]. The company also weathered a leadership crisis in November 2023, when its board removed CEO Sam Altman, citing a lack of confidence, only to reinstate him five days later after pressure from employees and investors [2][3]. Throughout 2024, roughly half of then-employed AI safety researchers left the company, citing a deprioritization of safety goals [2]. More recently, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sued OpenAI and Altman, claiming the company "ignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at great risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians" [1]. The suit follows documented incidents where interaction with large language model chatbots has been cited as a factor in suicides, prompting legal action against the AI developers involved [4]. Altman also recently apologized to the community of Tumbler Ridge, Canada after a mass shooting, acknowledging that OpenAI failed to alert law enforcement after flagging and banning the suspected shooter's ChatGPT account [1]. The investigation unfolds as OpenAI has confidentially filed to go public [1]. The company recently conducted a $6.6 billion share sale that valued it at $500 billion, and its primary cloud partner, Microsoft, has invested over $13 billion [2]. The broader AI sector faces scrutiny over a theorized stock market bubble, with some analysts drawing comparisons to the dot-com era [7].