Florida [US], June 2, (ANI): The US state of Florida has sued AI giant OpenAI for choosing profits over safety, knowing very well that its product ChatGPT is not safe, according to an NBC report.

The state becomes the first to sue the company and its CEO, Sam Altman, over safety concerns of its offering, according to CNN.

'Sam Altman and ChatGPT have chosen the AI race over the safety and security of our kids. They have chosen profit over public safety, and we're not going to stand for it here in Florida,' the CNN report quoted Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier as saying.

Uthmeier accused Altman of harming Floridians through his 'reckless and willful conduct as founder and CEO of OpenAI, including his utter disregard for the risk to human life caused by his firm's conduct', NBC reported.

The state has accused OpenAI of getting minors addicted to a product with no parental oversight. It also accused ChatGPT of helping mass shooters, encouraging suicide, and causing 'public humiliation'.

In its response, OpenAI said that it has built safety tools to protect minors within its product.

'In particular we built safety for minors directly into our products, including a more protective experience specifically for minors, an age prediction tool, defaulting users whose age we are not confident into our more protective experience, and giving parents tools to monitor their kids' use of AI. We know pointing to this work will not bring a child back, but we're committed to getting this right,' the CNN report quoted the company as saying.

The civil suit builds on the criminal investigation launched by the Florida Attorney General in April this year for the alleged use of ChatGPT in carrying out a mass shooting at Florida State University last year. (ANI)