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A new lawsuit asks OpenAI to pay stock or a cash equivalent to anyone in the U.S. who signed up for ChatGPT as a minor. It accuses the company of collecting children’s data without parental consent and using it to train its artificial intelligence models.
A Hawaii parent filed Jane Doe v. OpenAI Foundation on Tuesday Oct. 13 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. She sued on behalf of her 12-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son, who both began using ChatGPT early this year.
OpenAI’s terms of use say anyone under 18 needs a parent’s or guardian’s permission to use ChatGPT. According to the complaint, children can open accounts anyway, and the company never checks for consent. OpenAI has not commented publicly on the lawsuit.
The suit joins dozens of legal challenges filed against OpenAI in recent years. They range from copyright claims to allegations that ChatGPT contributed to mental health crises among users.
Who could get a share of OpenAI under the ChatGPT lawsuit?
The plaintiffs want the case certified as a class action. The class would cover anyone in the U.S. who accepted ChatGPT’s terms while under 18 and used the chatbot at any point since November 2022. That includes people who are adults now.
Each member would receive OpenAI equity, or its cash value, based on how many tokens they contributed through ChatGPT. Tokens are the units AI companies use to measure the text a chatbot processes. According to OpenAI, one token equals about four characters.
California law bars minors from entering certain contracts on their own. On that basis, the plaintiffs argue OpenAI’s terms are void for anyone who accepted them under 18. They also point to OpenAI’s April proposal for a public fund that would share AI returns with citizens.
The lawsuit doesn’t set a dollar amount, and a judge still has to decide whether it can proceed as a class action. Until then, there is no claim form or sign-up process.
What does the lawsuit say ChatGPT did with children’s data?
The complaint alleges that ChatGPT steers children into sharing details about their health, relationships, emotions and fears, along with voice recordings and photos. It says flattery and constant validation build that trust, and that OpenAI uses the material to train its models and build profiles of young users.
The 12-year-old started out asking about dinner ideas and homework, the filing says. When ChatGPT asked her age, she said she was 12, and the chatbot kept responding, although OpenAI’s terms require users to be at least 13.
Over the following months, she sent selfies and asked about features she disliked, according to the suit. When she asked ChatGPT to rate her looks, it agreed and encouraged her to send a photo.
The complaint alleges OpenAI will keep that data indefinitely. OpenAI launched an advertising program in January and says it doesn’t show ads to children. The plaintiffs argue the data could be used to target them once they turn 18.