Florida Seeks Injunction to Stop ChatGPT From Mimicking Human Persona

Florida Demands Injunction Against Humanlike AI Behavior

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is seeking a court injunction to prohibit OpenAI from equipping ChatGPT with human persona attributes. The motion, filed four months after Florida launched a state-led lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, requests that a judge bar the company from presenting the chatbot as human and restrict future model development until external safety oversight is in place.

Summarizing his stance on social media, Uthmeier demanded that OpenAI "Stop calling it safe. Stop pretending it's human. Stop selling it to kids." OpenAI did not immediately comment on the legal filing.

Allegations of Deceptive Friendliness and Safety Lapses

According to the state's filing, OpenAI uses first-person pronouns and emotional mimicry to misleadingly frame ChatGPT as a reliable "friend." Uthmeier argues that this persona lulls people into a false sense of security, driving user engagement and harvesting interaction data to train OpenAI's systems, even as the push for engagement compromises the software's reliability.

In addition to targeting anthropomorphic features, the injunction asks the court to halt the creation of new AI models unless they incorporate "third-party approved safety guardrails." To justify the request, the filing points to recent cybersecurity and safety incidents involving Hugging Face, an Australian government website, and several U.S. government platforms. Florida also referenced recurring warnings and alarm bells raised by AI researchers and former OpenAI personnel regarding systemic safety risks.

Mounting Scrutiny Around Minors and Model Safeguards

The legal battle comes amid growing regulatory friction over how generative AI is marketed and tailored to younger demographics. Just a month prior to the injunction request, OpenAI rolled out "ChatGPT for Teens." That version introduced stricter default safeguards designed to match developmental stages, encourage real-world social interaction, and foster healthy usage patterns. However, state officials argue these measures fall short of addressing core deceptive practices, keeping OpenAI's product design and youth engagement strategies squarely in regulatory crosshairs.