TALLAHASSEE — Vandana Joshi filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI in Florida on Sunday, alleging that ChatGPT enabled the April 2025 mass shooting at Florida State University that killed her husband. The complaint names Phoenix Ikner, the accused shooter, as a defendant and cites his conversations with ChatGPT.

Joshi is the widow of Tiru Chabba, who was killed alongside university dining director Robert Morales in the shooting, which left two people dead. According to court filings, the suit claims that ChatGPT "either defectively failed to connect the dots or else was never properly designed to recognize the threat."

The complaint argues that OpenAI should have realized Ikner's chats would lead to "mass casualties and substantial harm to the public." Ikner, then a student at Florida State University, shared images of firearms he had acquired with the chatbot, according to the filing. The chatbot allegedly told Ikner the Glock had no safety, that it was meant to be fired quickly under stress, and advised him to keep his finger off the trigger until he was ready to shoot. The suit alleges that Ikner began his attack by following those instructions.

The lawsuit also alleges that ChatGPT said it is much more likely for a shooting to gain national attention if children are involved, and that even two or three victims can draw more attention. On the day of the shooting, Ikner asked ChatGPT about the legal process, sentencing, and incarceration outlook, according to court filings.

OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri rejected the allegations. "Last year's mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime," he said. The company worked with law enforcement after learning of the shooting and continues to do so, according to Pusateri.

"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 said. He added: "ChatGPT is a general-purpose tool used by hundreds of millions of people every day for legitimate purposes. We work continuously to strengthen our safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise."