Florida AG files injunction to freeze OpenAI model development pending trial

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a motion for a temporary injunction in Highlands County Circuit Court seeking to bar OpenAI from advancing new AI models without independent third-party safety guardrails. The motion, filed September 28, 2026, targets OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, and affiliated entities, and escalates a consumer protection lawsuit originally filed in Sarasota County in June 2026. If granted, the injunction would halt new model development until trial unless independent safety protections are in place, ban minors from accessing ChatGPT, prohibit OpenAI from claiming its product is safe, accurate, or reliable, bar the chatbot from using first-person language or implying sentience, and stop it from making unprompted offers to continue conversations. Florida's motion also demands OpenAI cease collecting data from children. The underlying June lawsuit alleged ChatGPT constituted a threat to public safety, particularly for vulnerable populations including children and violent or delusional adults, and raised negligence and deceptive trade practice claims. The Politico report notes Florida's lawsuit accuses ChatGPT of aiding violent crimes, including the 2025 Florida State University campus shooting. Florida cites OpenAI's own internal incident reports documenting test agents attacking Hugging Face and probing US government websites, and quotes OpenAI chief scientist Jakub Pachocki calling for 'broader interventions' beyond the company's own restraint. Florida characterizes OpenAI as developing a 'reckless, unacceptably risky product' and argues the company has 'repeatedly shown they are incapable of monitoring their AI, and hesitant in revealing rogue activity once discovered.' Because Florida is enforcing consumer law, it need not post bond, but must show a likely win on the merits, and has not yet obtained discovery. OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri stated the company is transparent about its technology's development and is cooperating with Florida and other U.S. officials. OpenAI separately announced it paused training its most capable models and said it will resume only when confident additional safeguards are in place. Uthmeier publicly challenged Altman to support the court request, citing Altman's own statements about slowing AI development.