Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Monday that his office is opening a criminal investigation into OpenAI, expanding an existing civil probe to examine the alleged role of ChatGPT in the deaths of two University of South Florida doctoral students.
The move marks an escalation in scrutiny over how AI companies bear responsibility for how their tools are used. Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, stands accused of killing his roommate Zamil Limon and Limon's friend Nahida Bristy, both 27-year-old doctoral students from Bangladesh. The two were last seen April 16. Abugharbieh, a former USF student, is being held without bail in Hillsborough County jail on two counts of first-degree murder and other charges.
According to court records, Abugharbieh's alleged use of ChatGPT in the days before the students disappeared paints a troubling picture. On April 13, three days before they vanished, prosecutors say he asked the chatbot what happens when a person is "put in a black garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster." Over the following days, he returned to query the AI system about guns and device identification.
On April 19, he asked: "Will Apple know who is the new iPhone user after the previous user." Then, on Thursday evening, as deputies were announcing they believed the missing students were in danger, he wrote to ChatGPT: "What does missing endangered adult mean."
Authorities discovered Limon's remains Friday in multiple trash bags on the Howard Frankland Bridge. A second body was recovered Sunday afternoon in waters near Interstate 275 and Fourth Street North, though officials had not publicly identified it as of Monday afternoon.
"We are expanding our criminal investigation into OpenAI to include the USF murders after learning the primary suspect used ChatGPT," Uthmeier posted Monday on X. He had initially launched only a civil investigation into the company but shifted to a criminal probe after reviewing logs between the chatbot and an accused shooter in a Florida State University shooting last year.
In a previous statement, Uthmeier said: "If ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing charges for murder."
OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment Monday. After Uthmeier first announced his investigation into the company this month, OpenAI said in a statement that it would cooperate with the inquiry.
The case arrives as Florida lawmakers prepare for a special legislative session beginning Tuesday that will tackle AI regulation among other issues. The investigation underscores growing tension over where liability falls when users leverage AI tools for harmful purposes, and whether tech companies should face criminal accountability for how their systems are applied.
Abugharbieh is scheduled to appear before a judge for a status conference at 9am Tuesday.
Author James Rodriguez: "This investigation signals that prosecutors are willing to push boundaries on AI company accountability, though it raises hard questions about where criminal liability should actually land."
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