California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings have sent an open letter to Openai to express concerns about the safety of ChatGpt, particularly for children and teens.
The warning comes a week after Bonta and 44 other Attorney Generals sent letters to 12 people from 12 AI companies following reports of sexually inappropriate interactions between AI chatbots and children.
“Since the letter was issued, we learned about the heartbreaking death of one young Californian from the suicide after a long-term extension of our interaction with an open chatbot, and we learned about the equally disturbing murderous suicide in Connecticut,” writes Bonta and Jennings. “Even though the safeguards were in place, it didn’t work.”
Two state officials are currently investigating for-profit organizations’ proposed restructuring to ensure that the nonprofit’s mission remains intact. Its mission includes “ensure that artificial intelligence is deployed safely” and to construct artificial general information (AGI) in accordance with the letter to benefit all humankind “including children” of all humankind.
“Before you benefit, you need to make sure that you have appropriate safety measures in place to avoid harm,” the letter continues. “Openai and the industry as a whole are not the place needed to ensure the safety of AI products development and deployment. As Attorney General, public safety is one of our core missions. As we continue our dialogue related to Openai’s recapitalization plan, we must strive to accelerate and amplify safety as the future dominance of this powerful technology.”
Bonta and Jennings said they are seeking further information on Openai’s current safety precautions and governance and hope that we will take immediate corrective action when necessary.
TechCrunch reached out to Openai for comment.
TechCrunch Events
San Francisco
|
October 27th-29th, 2025
