Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman on October 23, 2026 in Collin County district court, alleging ChatGPT deceived and harmed Texans under the state's consumer protection law. The suit reportedly seeks an injunction blocking minors from ChatGPT and requiring a court-appointed evaluator to approve new models. It follows similar suits from at least eight states and Florida.
Key facts: Filed October 23, 2026 in Collin County district court; defendants are OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman; claims brought under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act; reported relief includes blocking minors and court-appointed review of new models; eight states sued OpenAI on October 14 and Florida sued in June; OpenAI says it has built safeguards and backs industry-wide standards.
What exactly is Texas alleging against OpenAI?
Texas alleges OpenAI marketed ChatGPT as safe and reliable while failing to protect users, especially children, from foreseeable harms. According to the Texas Attorney General's press release, the claims are brought under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act (DTPA), and the state says OpenAI misrepresented its products and released them carelessly.
The harms the AG's office lists include:
- Aiding people who carried out violent attacks, including mass shootings
- Encouraging suicide among vulnerable users
- Public humiliation of professionals
- Erosion of users' critical thinking
- Minors becoming dependent on the tool with no parental oversight
As KBTX reported, the office describes minors getting addicted to a tool that "fakes human compassion to collect their data." Paxton said in the release that he would "ensure that powerful technology companies are not above the law."
These are allegations in a complaint. None has been tested in court, and the press release itself summarizes "reported" harms rather than laying out specific Texas cases.
What is Texas asking the court to do?
Texas is asking for a broad injunction that would change how OpenAI ships products, not just a financial penalty. According to the Texas Tribune and KBTX, the requested relief includes:
- Blocking minors from accessing ChatGPT
- Requiring third-party approval of any new OpenAI model by a court-appointed evaluator
- Other, unspecified restrictions on the company
The AG's own press release does not list specific remedies, so the details above come from news reports describing the complaint. A requirement that a court-appointed evaluator approve new models would be unusual for a consumer protection case and is likely to be heavily contested.
How has OpenAI responded?
OpenAI says it has worked with experts to reduce risks and add safeguards, and that it supports industry-wide rules. A spokesperson told the Texas Tribune that "governments have an important role to play" in setting AI safety standards, and said OpenAI wants to work with Texas and other states on policies covering the whole industry.
In responding to the earlier multistate suits, OpenAI told the Associated Press that ChatGPT is meant for users 13 and older, that under-18 users need a parent's or guardian's permission, and that its teen experience reduces exposure to self-harm, violence and explicit content. The company also said most teen users rely on ChatGPT for learning and productivity.
How does this fit with the other state lawsuits?
Texas is the latest in a widening wave of state actions against OpenAI. On October 14, attorneys general from Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia brought separate suits in state courts. KCRG/Dakota News Now reported that Iowa's Brenna Bird announced her suit alongside Kansas, Nebraska and West Virginia, saying OpenAI "is hurting kids and they are lying to Iowans."
Reports differ slightly on the roster: the AP story named seven filing states and quoted Iowa's AG separately, while Iowa's announcement listed all eight.
Florida got there first. Axios reported that Attorney General James Uthmeier sued OpenAI and Altman on June 1, 2026, alleging negligence and deceptive trade practices. Like Texas, Florida named Altman personally.
Not everyone sees the wave the same way. Matthew Bergman of the Social Media Victims Law Center called the multistate action historic, while Common Sense Media said some ChatGPT teen protections "don't work as intended." OpenAI disputes how the states characterize its safety record.
Is the Texas lawsuit political?
Some coverage frames the suit in political terms, and the context is worth knowing. Paxton is the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, and the Texas Tribune reports that Elon Musk is the largest single donor to his campaign. Musk co-founded OpenAI, later left after a dispute with Altman, and now runs xAI, whose Grok chatbot competes with ChatGPT. The Tribune also notes Texas has not acted against Musk's companies, while California's AG has opened an investigation into Grok.
There is another side. Paxton has sued or settled with Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and Roblox over child-safety claims in the past year, so suing a major tech platform fits a pattern that predates this race. And the core allegations echo those already filed by attorneys general in nine other states. Readers can weigh both points; the court will weigh the evidence.
What should marketing teams do about ChatGPT ads and AI answers?
Marketing teams should treat this as a planning risk, not a reason to pause AI channels. The suits do not change anything today, but a court-ordered under-18 block or tighter age verification would reshape who sees ChatGPT answers and ads. If you are evaluating the format, our breakdown of ChatGPT ads formats, costs and CPC data covers the basics.
Practical steps:
- Audit audience assumptions. If teen or college reach matters to your brand, model a scenario where under-18 users disappear from ChatGPT and see how much of your AI channel plan depends on them.
- Keep tests small and reversible. A structured pilot like our 30-day ChatGPT ads playbook lets you learn without locking in budget ahead of legal outcomes.
- Review brand safety adjacency. Litigation headlines about self-harm and violence raise the bar for where your brand appears in AI answers. Tighten category exclusions and review sensitive-topic placements.
- Diversify across assistants. Spread visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and others, so one platform's legal exposure does not hit your whole AI presence.
- Watch the precedent. Big state settlements can rewrite platform rules, as the Meta New Mexico penalty showed for social.
MarkGrid's Model Share tracks how often your brand shows up in answers across AI assistants, so you can see whether visibility concentrates on one platform. Budget Optimization helps teams model reallocation if a channel's audience or rules shift suddenly.
FAQ
When and where did Texas sue OpenAI?
Texas filed suit on October 23, 2026 in Collin County district court, naming OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman as defendants.
What law is Texas using?
The suit is brought under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, according to the Attorney General's press release.
Could minors really be blocked from ChatGPT?
That is part of the relief Texas reportedly seeks, but only a court order or settlement could impose it. OpenAI currently says ChatGPT is for users 13 and older, with parental permission required under 18.
Which other states have sued OpenAI?
Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia filed separate suits on October 14, 2026. Florida sued in June 2026.
What did OpenAI say?
OpenAI says it has worked with experts on safeguards and supports AI safety standards that apply across the industry, not to a single company.
Should advertisers stop testing ChatGPT ads?
No. The litigation is early. Keep pilots small, review brand safety settings, and plan for possible audience changes such as age restrictions.
Last updated October 25, 2026.
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Rishi utkarsh gupta
Associate director
Rishi Utkarsh Gupta is an Associate Director at MarkGrid, an autonomous marketing operating system powered by 650+ AI agents. He focuses on AI visibility, marketing intelligence, and scalable growth systems.
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