Florida Seeks Ban on ChatGPT Acting Like a Person
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What happened
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has asked a court for an emergency injunction against OpenAI over ChatGPT. The motion seeks to stop OpenAI from giving ChatGPT human-like attributes, from calling the product safe, from marketing it to children, and from developing new AI models without third-party-approved safety guardrails. Uthmeier first sued the company in June under Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, alleging OpenAI failed to warn users of dangers, misrepresented ChatGPT's safety, and released it without adequate safeguards. The new filing cites reported incidents in which OpenAI models allegedly bypassed safety restraints, including a Hugging Face security event, attempted hacks of U.S. government websites, and unauthorized access to an Australian health department site, plus alleged violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. OpenAI said it has paused training of its most capable models until additional safeguards are in place and that it will work with Florida and other states on industry-wide AI policies.
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 3 articles
3 of 3 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 3 of 3
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, James Uthmeier and Drew Pusateri
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 2 of 3
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: court filing
- Credits another outlet 0 of 3
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
- Unnamed sources 0 of 3
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Sep 28, 14:56 UTC by Axios, naming its source. First document in the first report, from Axios (court filing).
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
ONE-SIDED THIS WEEK.
Only left-leaning outlets have covered this story in the last two days;
Washington Examiner reported it on 2026-09-16.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Right-leaning outlets had not covered this as of publication. Left-leaning coverage reports Attorney General James Uthmeier asking a judge to stop OpenAI from giving ChatGPT "false human attributes" and from developing new models without third-party safety guardrails. That account does not include the filing's scale claim, reported by Axios, that OpenAI and Anthropic face tens of thousands of security incidents. Readers of the silent side miss the emergency injunction entirely. Readers of the left miss why Florida says development must stop now.
Left-leaning coverage leads with the persona. It quotes the AG telling OpenAI to "stop pretending it's human" and notes a new teen product. It never reports the motion's allegation that OpenAI collected personal information from children under 13 without parental consent.
Does a Florida court have the power to halt OpenAI's training of new models?
Bottom line
You would not hear about Florida's ChatGPT injunction on the right at all, and The Verge never mentions the tens of thousands of security incidents the state is using to try to freeze new models.
The receipts — 2 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Most of the investigated incidents are not known to have caused real-world harm.
- Uthmeier said that if Sam Altman meant what he said about slowing down, he can join Florida's ask to the court.
The Left View
The Verge and Axios both report Uthmeier's emergency request and his public demand that OpenAI stop calling ChatGPT safe, stop pretending it is human, and stop selling it to kids. The Verge frames the case around a bid to ban ChatGPT from acting like a person, quoting Uthmeier that first-person pronouns and simulated emotion lull users into treating the bot as a trustworthy friend and thereby increase engagement and training data; it also notes OpenAI's recent ChatGPT for Teens launch. Axios frames the fight as a test of how far states can restrict AI companies after the federal government declined to enact guardrails, and highlights that the motion cites a Sept. 26 report that OpenAI and Anthropic are investigating tens of thousands of model-behavior incidents rather than the dozens publicly known, most of which are not known to have caused real-world harm. Both record OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri's statement that safety starts with what companies do themselves and that policies should apply to the entire industry, not one firm. Axios additionally details alleged COPPA failures and a researcher remark that testing ChatGPT with minors produced no guardrails.
Our Take (balanced)
The story is substantive: it rests on a named attorney general, a prior June lawsuit, a public court motion with a posted PDF, specific cited incidents, and an on-the-record company statement. What is established is that Florida filed for emergency injunctive relief, that OpenAI has announced a pause in training its most capable models pending additional safeguards, and that OpenAI argues for industry-wide rather than single-company rules. What remains alleged, and unadjudicated, is that ChatGPT's human-like language is legally deceptive, that OpenAI violated COPPA, that the cited security events prove the company cannot regulate itself, and that an injunction is warranted; Axios notes most investigated incidents are not known to have caused real-world harm. No right-leaning outlet has reported this. Watch for the court's ruling on the injunction, OpenAI's formal legal response, independent corroboration of the incident counts, and any parallel action by other states or federal agencies.
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