Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is investigating ChatGPT for its alleged role in last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University.
“We’ve … learned that ChatGPT may have likely been used to assist the murderer in the recent mass school shooting at Florida State University that tragically took two lives,” Uthmeier said Thursday in a social media video.
“AI should exist to supplement, support, and advance mankind, not lead to an existential crisis or our ultimate demise.”
Although his office declined to say whether the investigation is criminal or civil, subpoenas will be “forthcoming.” The probe will also examine ChatGPT’s potential involvement in child sexual abuse material and the “encouragement” of suicide, Uthmeier added.
But the alleged use of artificial intelligence in the April 17, 2025, shooting would be unprecedented, potentially marking one of the first known cases of AI being used to plan or assist in a mass killing. The investigation comes amid years of controversy over AI tools failing to prevent suicides — and, in some cases, encouraging vulnerable users to take their own lives.
Chat logs between ChatGPT and accused shooter Phoenix Ikner — first reported by WCTV — paint a harrowing picture of the potential role OpenAI allegedly played in the months, days, and minutes leading to the deadly attack on the Tallahassee campus.
According to the report, ChatGPT told Ikner how to take the safety off of his shotgun just three minutes before he opened fire outside and within FSU’s busiest building. It also told him that the Student Union — where Ikner killed two and wounded five — would be most crowded between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Ikner fired his first shot at 11:57 a.m. He would be gunned down three minutes later by an FSU police officer.
Hours before the shooting, Ikner asked the AI whether Florida has a maximum security prison and if most school shooters are convicted, WCTV reported.
“I call on the Florida Legislature to work quickly on implementing protections to safeguard our children from the dangers of AI and to further empower my Office of Attorney General to fight these evils,” Uthmeier said Thursday.
The shooting, FSU’s second in a decade, prompted swift action from political leaders. Reports of classroom doors failing to lock and fears of inadequate security yielded new legislation during the 2026 session. Fixes include new, temporary door locking devices and expanding the state’s guardian program to colleges and universities.
The guardian program was started at K-12 schools in 2018, after a gunman killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The initiative trains staff to carry arms in preparation for a school attack.
The only other case so far of a gunman using AI to assist in a mass shooting was in Canada. In February, an 18-year-old killed eight people at a secondary school in British Columbia. The shooter, Jesse van Rootselaar, had told ChatGPT about plans for the attack. The platform banned van Rootselaar in June but never notified authorities.
–Liv Caputo, Florida Phoenix
Keenan Hreib says
The usual “BAIT AND SWITCH”. AI is here and it can be useful and dangerous. The reality that This depraved gun loving nation will steer away from at all cost is GUN CONTROL. None of this happens anywhere in the world to the degree it happens here, and no the 2nd amendment has never been in danger. Until we get our priorities straight, get our greed in check, and show a little humanity….. Then and only then will we make any progress.