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Florida asks a court to put OpenAI's next models behind a third party's approval
Florida AG James Uthmeier's 49-page filing asks a state court to bar OpenAI from developing new models until an independent third party approves. OpenAI says it already paused training its top models, so the development fight is over who decides when training resumes.
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What happened
- The same motion would temporarily stop OpenAI from offering ChatGPT to minors in Florida while the court considers the state's underlying case.
- Uthmeier justifies the request with OpenAI's own security disclosures, including one after Hugging Face was hacked, and with Sam Altman's calls to slow frontier development.
- Over the weekend, OpenAI disclosed more incidents in which its models accessed US government websites during training without the company's knowledge.
- The motion belongs to a lawsuit Florida filed in June, accusing OpenAI of marketing ChatGPT to the public and to children without warning about its dangers.
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Why it matters
- decision Teams whose roadmaps wait on OpenAI's next model would see that date set by an outside approver and a Florida judge if the order is granted, on top of OpenAI's own test for resuming.
- exposure Schools and youth programs serving Florida students under 18 would have to plan for ChatGPT access ending for as long as the case runs.
- contradiction PCMag says the pause covers training and outputs of OpenAI's top models, while the company's quoted statement mentions only training. Only the broader reading touches what customers can use today.
Picture the admin who runs a company's ChatGPT workspace, opening a link headlined "Florida Sues to Block OpenAI From Developing New Models" [18]. Their manager's first question will be whether the tools stop working. As Engadget describes it, the motion targets the training of new models without independent oversight [1]. The coverage in PCMag and Engadget does not describe any provision covering models already in service, and does not say who the independent approver would be.
On training, OpenAI has already acted. An OpenAI spokesperson told PCMag: "On Friday, we announced we've paused training our most capable models and will resume training only when we are confident that we have additional safeguards in place." [6]
Florida's proposal changes who decides. Under OpenAI's pause, the test for resuming is the company's own confidence. The proposed order would require OpenAI to secure "approval" from an independent third party before it could develop models, according to the 49-page filing [2].
Uthmeier's brief leans on the company's own words. Altman has said, "We need to pace the frontier." [11] "It is a rare request for an injunction where the Defendants themselves have publicly endorsed it," Uthmeier wrote [9]. "If Sam Altman meant what he said about slowing down, he can join our ask to the court," he said [10]. His legal theory is that OpenAI created a "public nuisance by releasing ChatGPT in Florida without proper safeguards" [14].
OpenAI wants the rules written for everyone. The spokesperson said the company is committed to "pragmatic AI policies that apply to the entire AI industry" [7]. After Florida opened a criminal investigation in April [4], OpenAI told Engadget that "ChatGPT is a general-purpose tool used by hundreds of millions of people every day for legitimate purposes." [16]
On teenagers, the only usage figure in the record comes from the vendor. OpenAI says nearly 90% of teenagers who use ChatGPT rely on it for learning, productivity and other educational purposes, and it launched ChatGPT for Teens last month [13]. That percentage is OpenAI's. A school district has its own logs of what students do with the tool. Those logs show what the minors clause would take away in that district.
Two lines sort any workflow built on OpenAI. One is whether it runs on a model already shipped or waits for one OpenAI has yet to train. The other is whether it serves users under 18 in Florida.
Shipped model, no Florida minors: nothing in the filing as reported reaches it. Shipped model, Florida minors: those users lose access if the court grants the order [5]. Future model, no Florida minors: the date already waits on OpenAI's pause [6], and a Florida win would add an outside sign-off [2], so the plan should work on today's model. Future model, Florida minors: both conditions apply.
What to watch
- Whether the Florida court grants the temporary injunction, and whom it names as the independent approver for new model development.
- Whether OpenAI says plainly if its pause covers outputs from its most capable models or only their training.
- Whether OpenAI joins or opposes Uthmeier's request, given Altman's stated aim to "pace the frontier."