Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has sued OpenAI, alleging the company misled consumers about ChatGPT’s safety and reliability, including the risks of receiving inaccurate or dangerous medical advice from the chatbot.
The 91-page petition, filed in Iowa District Court for Polk County, alleges that OpenAI violated the state’s Consumer Fraud Act by misrepresenting ChatGPT as a safe and trustworthy product despite evidence of potential harms to users.
The lawsuit, announced Oct. 14, specifically raises concerns about ChatGPT’s performance when providing medical guidance.
The petition cites a 2026 study published in Nature Medicine that evaluated ChatGPT Health’s ability to recommend appropriate levels of care for medical emergencies. According to the filing, researchers found that the tool under-triaged 51.6% of emergency cases tested, recommending delayed care in situations where physicians would have advised patients to visit an emergency department.
The lawsuit also references a separate legal case involving a California teenager whose parents allege ChatGPT provided unsafe advice about combining kratom with the anti-anxiety medication Xanax.
According to Iowa’s petition, the teenager’s parents alleged that ChatGPT provided advice about drug combinations and failed to warn about potentially fatal interactions. The teenager died after consuming a combination of Xanax, kratom and alcohol, the filing states. The allegations involving ChatGPT’s advice have not been established in court.
Beyond medical advice, Iowa alleges that ChatGPT’s design can encourage unhealthy emotional attachments, reinforce delusions and expose vulnerable users, including minors, to harmful content.
“OpenAI claims ChatGPT is safe while it’s giving dangerous medical advice, encouraging people to hurt others, and coaching people to commit suicide,” Ms. Bird said in the Oct. 14 announcement.
The lawsuit also challenges OpenAI’s testing of advanced AI models, alleging that the company failed to implement adequate safeguards against potentially harmful autonomous behavior.
Iowa is seeking civil penalties of up to $40,000 per violation of the state’s Consumer Fraud Act, reimbursement for affected consumers and additional safety measures. The state is also asking the court to prohibit further testing of advanced AI models until adequate safeguards have been implemented and independently verified.
Seven other states — Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana — have filed separate lawsuits against OpenAI, according to the Iowa attorney general’s office.
The allegations in Iowa’s lawsuit have not been adjudicated.
Becker’s has reached out to OpenAI for comment and will update this story if more information becomes available.
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