Uthmeier wants penalties for corporations whose AI chatbots contribute to crimes

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier called for legislation imposing criminal penalties on corporations whose AI chatbots contribute to crimes, acknowledging that a company itself cannot be jailed. The push follows his office's lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman over ChatGPT logs showing accused Florida State shooter Phoenix Ikner asked the chatbot about campus timing, sentencing laws and victim counts before the April 2025 attack that killed two.

Uthmeier's office has also expanded its OpenAI investigation to include the killings of two University of South Florida doctoral students whose primary suspect reportedly used ChatGPT. No legislation has been drafted, but Uthmeier floated fines, victim restitution payments and business suspension, alongside asking the state medical board to probe chatbots for practicing medicine without a license.

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