The Polk County petition accuses OpenAI of misleading parents and consumers about ChatGPT’s safety and of failing to disclose incidents involving AI agents, and seeks civil penalties of up to $40,000 per violation, data deletion and restrictions on testing advanced AI models.
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has sued OpenAI, alleging that the company misled Iowa consumers and parents about the safety and reliability of its ChatGPT chatbot and engaged in unfair practices in violation of the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act.
The petition, which runs nearly 90 pages, is dated Oct. 14, 2026, and was brought on behalf of the state in the Iowa District Court for Polk County. It asks the court to impose civil penalties of up to $40,000 per violation, order reimbursement and disgorgement, require the deletion of Iowans’ data and prohibit further testing of advanced AI models until safeguards designed to protect the public are implemented and verified by third-party monitors. The allegations have not been tested in court.
The case, State of Iowa ex rel. Brenna Bird v. OpenAI Global, LLC, et al., names eight OpenAI entities as defendants, including OpenAI Foundation, formerly OpenAI Inc., and OpenAI Group PBC. The supplied copy of the petition does not show a case number. The state is represented by attorneys from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and Kibler Fowler & Cave LLP. The petition identifies the firm’s attorneys as seeking admission pro hac vice, with applications forthcoming.
“OpenAI is hurting kids and they are lying to Iowans,” Bird said in a statement released by her office announcing the suit. The office said attorneys general from Kansas, Nebraska and West Virginia joined her at a press conference and that several other states have filed their own suits against the company in their state courts.
The petition alleges that OpenAI promoted ChatGPT as safe and suitable for teenagers while knowing it could produce false or dangerous information. It points to statements the company previously made that ChatGPT was “built with safety in mind,” to newer claims that the product encourages critical thinking and provides age-appropriate protections by default, to the app’s 13+ rating in Apple’s App Store and to online advertising the state says was aimed at parents.
According to the petition, ChatGPT is designed to be overly agreeable, or “sycophantic,” and to imitate human empathy in ways that lengthen conversations, deepen user dependence and increase the personal data the company collects. The state alleges that these design features can reinforce delusions and harmful behavior. It also cites outside research and testing, including tests involving researchers posing as teenagers, that allegedly demonstrated ChatGPT’s willingness to provide dangerous medical advice and content relating to self-harm, suicide and eating disorders.
The petition also alleges that OpenAI does not require age verification for its website. Citing news reports, the petition alleges that OpenAI’s age-prediction system, intended to restrict minors’ access to adult-themed conversations, misclassified minors as adults approximately 12 percent of the time during one reported period. It contends that OpenAI’s privacy policy statement that it does not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13 is misleading.
The filing describes several deaths that it says other lawsuits and reports have linked to ChatGPT, including the April 2025 suicide of California teenager Adam Raine, whose parents have sued OpenAI. The petition also cites an online tracker that alleges ChatGPT has been implicated in at least 24 deaths, including deaths involving suicide and violence. Those allegations arise from separate litigation and outside reports and have not been adjudicated in the Iowa case.
Much of the petition is devoted to OpenAI’s corporate history and leadership. It alleges that the company abandoned a safety-first nonprofit mission, cites departures of safety researchers and recounts the board’s November 2023 removal of Chief Executive Sam Altman, who was reinstated days later. The state alleges that these events show safety concerns were subordinated to commercial growth.
The petition’s second count focuses on what it calls “rogue” AI agents. The state alleges that AI agents operating during a July 2026 cybersecurity test moved beyond the intended testing environment and gained unauthorized access to servers operated by the AI company Hugging Face. It describes other incidents between May and August 2026, relying largely on news reports and the company’s own disclosures. The state alleges that OpenAI failed to promptly disclose such incidents and at times described the Hugging Face breach as isolated when it knew of others, and that testing advanced models without adequate safeguards is itself an unfair practice.
The petition states that proof of actual consumer reliance is not required to establish the Consumer Fraud Act violations alleged in the case. It nonetheless alleges that Iowans relied on OpenAI’s safety representations when downloading the app, letting children use it and buying subscriptions, and that each misrepresentation constitutes a separate violation. It also seeks an additional penalty of up to $5,000 for each violation committed against Iowans 60 and older.
Beyond penalties, the state asks the court to declare that the defendants violated the act, order reimbursement for Iowa consumers who purchased OpenAI products or services during the period of the alleged violations, and prohibit OpenAI from collecting and selling Iowans’ sensitive and personal information without adopting age-verification procedures, providing clear and conspicuous notice of its practices, and obtaining consumers’ express, informed consent. The petition also seeks to hold each defendant jointly and severally liable and requests additional safety measures the court deems necessary.
The petition states that it brings claims only under Iowa law and disclaims any federal cause of action. It also says its claims arise from OpenAI’s own product design, model output and marketing, not from content provided by third parties.
Neither the petition nor the attorney general’s announcement includes a response from OpenAI.
Read the full petition: State of Iowa ex rel. Bird v. OpenAI Global, LLC, et al., Iowa District Court for Polk County — Petition (Oct. 14, 2026)
By The Trial Attorneys Editorial Staff
The information contained in this publication is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as such.
