Nonprofit groups sue OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Meta and SpaceX's AI division seeking halt on AI development

Detailed summary

Nonprofits sued OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Google and SpaceX’s AI unit seeking to halt advanced AI development over existential risks cited by the firms’ leaders. | World News

A group of nonprofits sued OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX's AI division, Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google on Thursday, seeking to block the further development of the most advanced AI models over concerns, voiced by the companies' own leaders, that the technology could pose a threat to humanity.

The nonprofits, which focus on tech accountability and include the Irreplaceable Education Fund, Public Citizen and Heat Initiative, sued in San Francisco, saying California’s laws against unfair business practices provide the grounds for a court order barring the companies from further development of products like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude.

The lawsuit cites comments from company leaders, like Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, and Elon Musk, SpaceX's chief executive, about AI's potential to cause the destruction of civilization. It also describes recent incidents where models have escaped testing environments and autonomously attacked government websites.

“No other industry is allowed to treat its own development of unsafe products—much less ones that could kill us all—as inevitable,” the lawsuit says. “Nor is any industry granted the right to self-regulate the development of such dangerous products.”

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The lawsuit accuses the companies of engaging in business practices that create a public nuisance, or harm to public health and enjoyment, pointing to both past incidents and the potential for future harm.

A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment. Representatives of the other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

While the Trump administration has so far declined to pursue large-scale AI regulation over fears it could harm the country’s ability to compete with China, states and private entities have sought to use lawsuits to force the companies to make changes.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sued OpenAI in June, ‌accusing the company of…

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