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Trump tells Iowa rally he has 'the right to run again,' despite two-term limit Trump says Iran-bound warships could stop 50 yards off Cuba, reviving intervention talk Judge halts DHS door-knocking hunt for noncitizen voters in nine states until Nov. 3 Paxton sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over ChatGPT safety 11 days before Senate election On tape: Trump asks a reporter "Are you a sick person?" Then the reporter is dropped from the press pool. Trump team defends firing of court-appointed U.S. attorney in Seattle before Ninth Circuit Treasury proposes rules for ban on big investors buying single-family homes Justice Department plans 1,000 election monitors on Nov. 3, over twice 2022's number Democrats warn their own side not to count on winning the House before Nov. 3 On tape: Tariff over 110%: an Alaska air taxi's $10,000 parts order turned into a $20,000 bill. Trump tells Iowa rally he has 'the right to run again,' despite two-term limit Trump says Iran-bound warships could stop 50 yards off Cuba, reviving intervention talk Judge halts DHS door-knocking hunt for noncitizen voters in nine states until Nov. 3 Paxton sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over ChatGPT safety 11 days before Senate election On tape: Trump asks a reporter "Are you a sick person?" Then the reporter is dropped from the press pool. Trump team defends firing of court-appointed U.S. attorney in Seattle before Ninth Circuit Treasury proposes rules for ban on big investors buying single-family homes Justice Department plans 1,000 election monitors on Nov. 3, over twice 2022's number Democrats warn their own side not to count on winning the House before Nov. 3 On tape: Tariff over 110%: an Alaska air taxi's $10,000 parts order turned into a $20,000 bill.

Corruption & Accountability · Report · File No. 261023-563

Paxton sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over ChatGPT safety 11 days before Senate election

Texas's attorney general, now the Republican Senate nominee, accuses OpenAI of misleading Texans about ChatGPT. The suit comes a week after filings showed Elon Musk, an OpenAI rival, spent nearly $200 million backing his campaign.

By the Investigations Desk · · 2 min read

Every quote in this story (2) was matched word for word against its source. How we work

Ken Paxton
Ken Paxton. Photo: Anythingyouwant, CC BY-SA 4.0

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, on Friday. The suit claims the company misled Texas consumers about the safety of its ChatGPT chatbot and failed to put enough safeguards in place 1. It was filed in Collin County District Court 12.

Paxton is the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, and Election Day is Nov. 3 2. The allegations are unproven, and neither OpenAI nor Paxton's office had responded to Courthouse News's request for comment 1.

What the lawsuit says

The 67-page complaint relies on the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a state consumer protection law. It says OpenAI and Altman released ChatGPT products without enough parental controls, age verification or safety testing 1. It also accuses the company of violating the SCOPE Act, a newer Texas law that requires stricter age checks and parental consent on digital platforms 1.

The suit focuses on teenage users. Jonathan Stone, who leads the consumer protection division of Paxton's office, wrote that the chatbot is designed to act like a friend, then fails vulnerable teens who confide in it 1.

From Channel GOPTalarico: Elon Musk is trying to buy Texas Senate seatJames Talarico · 135 plays · captioned, with the source named
At very best this design feature is reckless, and at worst it is willful.
Jonathan Stone, chief of the Consumer Protection Division, Texas Attorney General's office1

The state cites at least eight cases in which people who committed violent acts consulted ChatGPT. One is the 2025 Florida State University shooter, who according to a separate lawsuit by a victim's widow asked the chatbot how many people he would need to kill to become notorious 1.

Paxton asks the court for a broad injunction, which is a court order forcing a company to change its conduct. It would bar OpenAI from releasing new ChatGPT models in Texas without approval from a court-appointed independent evaluator 1. The Texas Tribune reports it would also require OpenAI to block minors from the product 2.

Ken Paxton
I will fight to protect Texans from the harms of AI and ensure that powerful technology companies are not above the law.
Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General and Republican U.S. Senate nominee1

The Musk money

The timing draws attention to who is paying for Paxton's campaign. Courthouse News reports that campaign finance filings a week ago showed Elon Musk, a major competitor of Altman's, spent nearly $200 million on ads supporting Paxton's Senate bid 1. The Texas Tribune also notes that Musk is funding Paxton's campaign and competes with Altman and OpenAI 2.

The suit also cites coverage of this year's trial of Musk's case against Altman. That trial ended with a California jury unanimously finding OpenAI not liable 1.

The Tribune adds that Musk's own AI product, Grok, has been criticized for enabling deepfake pornography, including of children. It reports that Texas has taken no action against Musk, while California's attorney general has opened an investigation 2.

Paxton has also sued or settled with Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and Roblox over the past year under state consumer protection laws 2. The state is represented by outside lawyers Ashley Keller and Tony Buzbee, who was Paxton's attorney during his 2023 impeachment proceedings 2.

Why it matters

Child safety on AI chatbots is a serious question, and the complaint's claims will be tested in court. But voters can fairly ask whether a sitting attorney general should pursue a case that helps the rival of his biggest campaign backer, 11 days before he asks for their votes. Nothing in the coverage shows Musk directed the suit, and none of the sources allege that he did.

What happens next depends on OpenAI's response in court. The lawsuit will not be resolved before Nov. 3.

The Record

  1. Paxton's suit points to a Hugging Face security breach in July 2026 as evidence of AI security risks 1.
  2. Campaign finance filings, reported about a week before the suit, showed Elon Musk spent nearly $200 million on ads supporting Paxton's Senate campaign 1.
  3. Paxton sued OpenAI and Sam Altman in Collin County District Court, citing the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the SCOPE Act 12.

Sources

  1. Courthouse News, “Texas attorney general sues OpenAI for lying about ChatGPT safety and safeguards” (2026-10-23). courthousenews.com/texas-attorney-general-sues-openai-for-ly
  2. The Texas Tribune, “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues ChatGPT-maker OpenAI” (2026-10-23). texastribune.org/2026/10/23/ken-paxton-chatgpt-openai-lawsui

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