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Florida opens criminal probe over ChatGPT’s alleged role in FSU shooting

▶ Watch Video: Open AI, Chat GPT investigated criminally in a probe by Florida’s Attorney General

Florida’s attorney general announced Tuesday that his office has launched a criminal investigation into OpenAI after reviewing conversation logs between its generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, and a Florida State University student accused of killing two people and wounding several others after opening fire on campus last April.

“My prosecutors have looked at this and they’ve told me if it was a person on the other end of that screen, we would be charging them with murder,” Attorney General James Uthmeier said during a news conference Tuesday. The shooting suspect, Phoenix Ikner, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder. His trial is scheduled to begin in October, court records show. 

Uthmeier said his team determined that ChatGPT offered “significant advice” to the alleged shooter, advising him on what type of gun to use and whether it would be effective at short range. 

He said Florida is issuing subpoenas to OpenAI requesting records of the company’s policies and training materials for when users make threats to harm themselves or others. The office is also subpoenaing training materials regarding cooperation with law enforcement and policies for reporting possible crimes.

An OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News on Tuesday that the company identified an account believed to be associated with Ikner and shared it with law enforcement. The company said that ChatGPT “did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity” and that the bot provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found in public sources on the internet. 

“Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime,” OpenAI said in its statement.

The company said it will continue to cooperate with authorities and is continuously working to strengthen safeguards, detect harmful intent and limit misuse.

Chat logs shared by the Florida State Attorney’s Office with CBS News reveal messages between the suspect and ChatGPT in which Ikner asked about the lethality of certain shotgun shells, if school shooters were sent to maximum security prisons, and whether three shooting victims at FSU would garner media attention.

He also queried the bot about the busiest time at the FSU student union, where the deadly shooting later took place.

South Carolina to hold first 2028 Democratic presidential primary

▶ Watch Video: Democrats expected to approve South Carolina as first primary in 2028, but other states pushing back Democrats on Saturday approved a new presidential nominating calendar for 2028, cementing South Carolina's place as the first official Democratic primary state, as the party looks to elevate states that better reflect its diverse coalition of voters.The vote came during the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting in Austin, where members signed off on a schedule that begins with South Carolina on Jan. 22, followed by Nevada on Feb. 1. New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia round out the early-state lineup throughout February, all voting before Super Tuesday."This is much bigger than a lineup of dates on a calendar," said DNC Chair Ken Martin. "This is about our approach to winning back the presidency. It's about the kind of Democratic Party and the kind of country we aspire to be."The new calendar goes into effect amid a tug-of-war within the progressive and establishment wings of the party. It also continues a shift away from a tradition that for half a century gave states that are predominantly composed of White voters — Iowa and New Hampshire — outsized influence at the start of the nominating process. Strategists say the new calendar gives greater influence to Black and Latino voters, who make up key parts of the Democratic coalition. "If you're not strong with Latino voters or if you're not strong with Black voters, you know you can only get so far in this calendar," CBS News contributor and Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha said, adding that the schedule shows Black voters "the respect that they're due."Not everyone in the party is on board. Democratic leaders in Iowa and New Hampshire — previously the first and second states to hold primary contests, respectively — excoriated the new map as soon as the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee recommended it, arguing that it diminishes the role of states that have long taken on the responsibility of shaping the presidential nomination battlefield. "New Hampshire's First in the Nation primary is a tested proving ground in a closely contested swing state that forges better candidates and better presidents — and despite what DNC insiders say, that hasn't changed," New Hampshire's U.S. congressional delegation said in a statement. "As a state with highly engaged voters, we put candidates through their paces and thoroughly vet them. And our small size means that actually meeting and talking to voters takes precedence over super PACs or mega-donor-fueled campaigns."Iowa Democratic Chair Rita Hart said on Saturday the new calendar "fundamentally misses the mark," saying the job of the DNC calendar is to "ensure that the strongest possible nominee emerges" to become the Democratic candidate for president."It's a product of broken promises, and it excludes huge swaths of the country and the voters that Democrats need to win, the kind of majorities it takes to restore Democratic principles and reject this misguided and corrupt Trump administration," she said.Momentum for South Carolina's ascension in the calendar traces back to 2020, when a victory there shifted momentum in the presidential primary that year to Joe Biden after he performed poorly in Iowa, New Hampshire and, to a lesser extent, Nevada. Under pressure from Biden and his allies, the DNC moved South Carolina's primary to first for the 2024 calendar. That cycle, New Hampshire defied the DNC's revised schedule and held its primary before South Carolina, citing a state law that mandates it hold the first primary. In response, the party stripped the contest of its sanctioned status. DNC Chair Ken Martin has signaled that if New Hampshire jumps ahead again in 2028, punishment will be more severe. "This is a calendar this party is actually going to protect," Martin told reporters after the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee met last month to propose a new schedule. The new calendar could impact the ideological battle within the Democratic Party between establishment moderates and more progressive candidates, including far-left democratic socialists. With no obvious 2028 front-runner, the newly approved schedule gives South Carolina, Nevada and the other four early states disproportionate influence over which faction can build early momentum in the 2028 presidential primaries. Among the states granted early slots, only Nevada and New Mexico offer clear advantages to progressives. Michigan has shown openness this cycle to progressives, with the primary victory of Abdul El-Sayed in the Senate race, but historically has elected more moderate candidates. New Hampshire voters have over time shown an openness to outsiders, but they typically have a more independent streak rather than a steep ideological lean. Progressives face an uphill battle in South Carolina, which has fewer of the White voters with college degrees who tend to support further-left candidates, and Virginia, which has long favored more moderate candidates. The decision to elevate states with large Black and Hispanic populations also comes as Democrats fight to stop the GOP from gaining ground with those two groups in general elections. President Trump won 48% of the Hispanic vote in 2024, up 12 points from four years earlier, and he won 15% of Black voters, almost double his share in 2020, according to the Pew Research Center. His share of non-Hispanic White voters remained stable, at 55%.
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