The family of one of two people killed in a shooting at Florida State University last year is suing OpenAI, which runs ChatGPT, in federal court.

The family of Tiru Chabba, a 45-year-old father of two, says there weren't enough safeguards on ChatGPT when the accused gunman asked it questions, including on how many victims it would take to make the news and the busiest time at the student union, where the shooting took place.

"Our job as lawyers for the Chabba family and for the public is to make a wrong a right and to try to prevent this from ever happening again," said Robbie Bell, one of the family's attorneys, at a Monday press conference in front of the federal courthouse in Tallahassee.

They filed the lawsuit the day before.

The lawsuit also alleges the chatbot "inflamed and encouraged" the "delusions" of the accused shooter, Phoenix Ikner.

"Ikner had extensive conversations with ChatGPT, which, cumulatively, would have led any thinking human to conclude he was contemplating an imminent plan to harm others," reads the lawsuit. "However, ChatGPT either defectively failed to connect the dots or else it was never properly designed to recognize the threat."

Records show Ikner consulted with ChatGPT even while sitting in his car in an FSU parking garage right before the attack.

Ikner, whose trial is set to begin later in the year, is also being sued.

"They decided they wanted to place the dollar above the lives of everyday, average Americans," said Bakari Sellers, another attorney.

OpenAI says ChatGPT is not responsible because it provides factual responses with information that can be found across the Internet.

"It did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity," said Drew Pusateri, an OpenAI spokesperson, in an email. "ChatGPT is a general-purpose tool used by hundreds of millions of people every day for legitimate purposes. We work continuously to strengthen our safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.”

Lawyers representing the other person killed in the FSU shooting have also said they plan to sue.

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This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting