Widow of FSU Shooting Victim Sues OpenAI, Alleging ChatGPT Conversations Contributed to Attacker’s Actions

Vandana Joshi, the widow of Tiru Chabba, filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI in Florida on Sunday. The suit names Phoenix Ikner, the man accused in the April 2025 mass shooting at Florida State University and a student there at the time, as a defendant.

It alleges that Ikner had extensive conversations with ChatGPT in the months before the attack that left two people dead: Chabba and university dining director Robert Morales.

According to the complaint, Ikner shared with ChatGPT images of firearms he had acquired. The chatbot also advised Ikner to keep his finger off the trigger until he was ready to shoot. Ikner began his attack at FSU by following the instructions provided by ChatGPT.

M. m. m. were peak hours at the FSU student union. The lawsuit states that ChatGPT told Ikner it is much more likely for a shooting to gain national attention if children are involved and that even 2-3 victims can draw more attention.

On the day of the shooting, Ikner asked ChatGPT about the legal process, sentencing, and incarceration outlook. Over several months leading up to the attack, Ikner engaged ChatGPT in lengthy discussions about his interests in Hitler, Nazis, fascism, national socialism, Christian nationalism, and perceptions about Jews and blacks by different political ideologies and social groups.

He also discussed the Columbine High School shooting and the Virginia Tech shooting with the chatbot.

ChatGPT flattered and praised Ikner, who told the chatbot about his loneliness and depression. The suit claims the interactions inflamed and encouraged Ikner’s delusions and helped convince him that violent acts can be required to bring about change.

It argues OpenAI failed to effectively detect a threat in those conversations, either defectively failing to connect the dots or never being properly designed to recognize the threat.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a criminal investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT last month after reviewing Ikner’s chat logs. “If ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing charges for murder,” Uthmeier said in a statement. OpenAI has rejected claims that its product bears responsibility.

“Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime,” OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri told NBC News in an email. Pusateri stated that the company worked with law enforcement after learning of the incident and continues to do so.

“In this case, ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity,” Pusateri added.

The lawsuit is one of a growing number of cases in which families and law enforcement say ChatGPT or other AI chatbots played a role in violence or crime. Tech companies face growing scrutiny over safeguards for users experiencing mental health issues. @NBCNews reported that students held a vigil near the scene of the shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee in April 2025.

Images from the period showed students escorted out of the student union and law enforcement investigating at the scene.