California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings have met with and sent an open letter to OpenAI to express their significant concerns regarding the safety of ChatGPT, particularly for children and teens.
This warning follows a letter sent by Bonta and 44 other attorneys general to 12 of the top AI companies just one week prior. That initial action was prompted by reports of sexually inappropriate interactions between AI chatbots and children.
The officials revealed that since issuing the first letter, they learned of the heartbreaking suicide of a young Californian after he had prolonged interactions with an OpenAI chatbot. They also cited a similarly disturbing murder-suicide case in Connecticut. Bonta and Jennings stated that whatever safeguards were in place did not work.
The two state attorneys general are currently investigating OpenAI’s proposed restructuring into a for-profit entity. This investigation aims to ensure that the mission of the original nonprofit remains intact. That mission includes ensuring artificial intelligence is deployed safely and building artificial general intelligence to benefit all of humanity, including children.
The letter emphasizes that before any benefit can be realized, adequate safety measures must be in place to prevent harm. It is the shared view of the attorneys general that OpenAI and the wider industry are not where they need to be in ensuring safety in AI product development and deployment. They affirmed that public safety is a core mission of their offices and that as the dialogue about OpenAI’s recapitalization continues, accelerating safety must be a governing force for this powerful technology.
Bonta and Jennings have formally requested more detailed information about OpenAI’s current safety precautions and governance structure. They stated they expect the company to take immediate remedial measures where appropriate.
TechCrunch has reached out to OpenAI for comment.