By Hadas Gold, CNN

(CNN) — The family of a victim of last year’s Florida State University mass shooting filed a lawsuit Sunday against OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT “inflamed and encouraged” accused shooter Phoenix Ikner’s “delusions” ahead of the attack.

The lawsuit filed in Tallahassee follows the first criminal investigation against OpenAI opened by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier last month over whether the company “bears criminal responsibility” for the shooting.

The family of Tiru Chabba, one of the two people police say Ikner killed in April 2025, alleges Ikner messaged ChatGPT thousands of times before carrying out the shooting.

The chatbot helped him plan the logistics of the shooting, including how to operate weapons and advising on “what time would be best to encounter the most traffic on campus,” the complaint said. It also alleges that ChatGPT “provided what he viewed as encouragement in his delusion.”

Six other people were wounded in the shooting. Ikner has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is set to begin in October.

The family alleges wrongful death, gross negligence, products liability, and failure to warn, among other counts.

“OpenAI built a system that stayed in the conversation, perpetuated it, accepted Ikner’s framing, elaborated on it, and asked tangential follow-up questions to keep Ikner engaged,” the lawsuit states. “ChatGPT’s design created an obvious and foreseeable risk of harm to the public that was not adequately controlled.”

Chabba’s family is seeking undefined compensation and is pushing for OpenAI to add more safeguards to ChatGPT. Amy Willbanks, an attorney for the family, said the company should mitigate and eliminate dangers posed by ChatGPT before they become accessible to the public.

“We cannot have a product that is unregulated and being used by people when we don’t know the full extent of what it can lead to,” Willbanks said during a press conference on Monday.

OpenAI said that while the FSU shooting was a “tragedy,” ChatGPT is “not responsible.”

“In this case, ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity,” said OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri. “We work continuously to strengthen our safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.”

In a blog post last month, OpenAI said it is working to train ChatGPT to recognize when conversations could result in “threats, potential harm to others, or real-world planning” and will “guide people to real-world support.” If an account is flagged by ChatGPT’s internal system, a human reviewer will check the activity to see whether authorities need to be notified, the company said.

OpenAI is facing at least 10 lawsuits from families who allege that people harmed themselves or others after chatting with ChatGPT.

Seven families of victims in a February school shooting in Canada sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman last month, alleging the company and its ChatGPT chatbot were complicit in the injuries or deaths of their children.

The lawsuits follow Read more

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By Devan Cole, CNN

(CNN) — A nonprofit dedicated to “promoting informed stewardship” of historic landscapes asked a federal judge on Monday to halt the Trump administration’s painting of the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool, which has long featured a gray basin, blue.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, DC, by The Cultural Landscape Foundation argues the project violates federal laws requiring the Interior Department to complete a consultation process that includes notifying the public of the plans and getting input from other federal agencies before beginning the work.

The group also says the project runs afoul of a federal law requiring the department to issue an assessment of how the paint job would impact the environment.

The lawsuit is the latest challenge to Trump’s effort to remake a slew of cultural and historic institutions and sites in the nation’s capital. Other groups have asked federal courts to stop the president from moving ahead with work on a massive new ballroom at the White House, construction of an arch similar to Paris’ Arc de Triomphe and the painting of a federal office building adjacent to the White House.

“Defendants’ failure to follow the law before inserting a permanent blemish on the National Mall is causing serious and irreparable harm to the Plaintiffs and the public generally,” lawyers for the Cultural Landscape Foundation wrote in court papers. “Without immediate judicial intervention, defendants will deface an iconic American landmark, in open violation of Congressionally mandated procedures.”

The foundation’s president and CEO, Charles A. Birnbaum, who is also a plaintiff in the case, said in a statement that the Reflecting Pool’s design “is fundamental to the solemn and hallowed visual and spatial connection between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.”

“A blue-tinted basin is more appropriate to a resort or theme park,” he said.

The case was assigned to Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee who has previously presided over challenges to the president’s efforts to remake the federal workforce.

Nichols has asked both sides to tell him by Tuesday evening whether he should hold a hearing over the foundation’s request for an emergency court order halting work on the Reflecting Pool.

The paint project has been a priority for the president, who last week drove across the drained Reflecting Pool to survey the landmark, which he praised for its new “American flag blue” coating.

“It’s much more beautiful than it was new because it never had the color people wanted, but now it’s going to have the great color. So it’s going to be good,” Trump said last week.

Asked about the new lawsuit, an Interior Department spokesperson said in a statement that the new blue color “will enhance the visitor experience by making the pool reflect the grand Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument.”

Interior also touted other changes being made at the site to help with the maintenance of the pool’s water quality.

“The Department is proud of the work being carried out by our Park Service to ensure this magical spot can be enjoyed for not only our 250th, but for many generations to come,” the spokesperson said, referring to the upcoming anniversary of the US’ founding.

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