A coalition of state attorneys general from across the United States has issued OpenAI a sweeping subpoena focused on the safety of ChatGPT users, according to multiple reports. The Neuron puts the number of participating states at 42, making this one of the largest coordinated state-level legal actions against an AI company to date.
The subpoena arrives at a conspicuous moment. OpenAI is actively moving toward an initial public offering, meaning the investigation could cast a shadow over the company's valuation and its pitch to prospective investors. According to reporting aggregated by Euronews and Yahoo Finance Singapore, the action was brought by state chief legal officers acting in concert—a sign that regulators view ChatGPT's consumer safety record as a matter requiring serious, coordinated scrutiny.
The specific safety concerns driving the subpoena have not been fully detailed in the available reports, but the framing—user safety—suggests the states may be examining how ChatGPT interacts with vulnerable populations, what safeguards are in place, and whether the company's public disclosures accurately represent the risks its product poses.
OpenAI did not appear to issue a public response captured in the sources reviewed here. Beinsure characterized the development as a formal state attorneys general investigation into the company.
This matters because it signals that state-level regulators, not just federal agencies, are willing to use their legal authority to demand transparency from AI companies—and that the push toward an OpenAI IPO may now face a significant legal headwind that investors and regulators alike will be watching closely.