Florida Asks Court to Ban Minors From ChatGPT, Halt New

Short answer

Not yet, and maybe not at all. Florida has only asked a judge. No order has been issued, and ChatGPT is still available in Florida.On September 28, 2026, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a motion for a temporary injunction in the Circuit Court of the 10th Judicial Circuit in Highlands County. It asks the court to stop OpenAI from offering ChatGPT to Florida minors and from developing new AI models without independent third-party safety guardrails and approval. News4JAX reports the request is still pending, and that the filing alone does not mean a judge has ordered OpenAI to change anything.

Source: Uthmeier asks court to temporarily block OpenAI from offering ChatGPT to minors (News4JAX) · 2026-10-06; Florida asks court to enjoin OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman during lawsuit (Unite.AI) · 2026-10-06

What Florida is actually asking for

According to CBS12 and Unite.AI, the motion would temporarily bar OpenAI from six things: developing AI models without independent third-party guardrails and approval; offering ChatGPT to minors in Florida; collecting data from children under 13 without parental consent; marketing ChatGPT as safe, reliable or accurate without warnings; presenting ChatGPT as having human traits such as thoughts or emotions; and using "conversation prolongation" features meant to keep people chatting. CBS12 quotes Uthmeier's pitch: "Stop calling it safe. Stop pretending it's human. Stop selling it to kids."

Source: Florida AG asks judge to block minors from ChatGPT, impose sweeping OpenAI restrictions (CBS12) · 2026-10-06; Florida asks court to enjoin OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman during lawsuit (Unite.AI) · 2026-10-06

The motion is part of the lawsuit Florida filed on June 1, 2026. That suit alleges violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, plus negligence, defective design, failure to warn, fraudulent misrepresentation and public nuisance. News4JAX reports that OpenAI moved the case to federal court, but a federal judge sent it back to state court. It also reports that discovery had not started when the motion was filed, and that no hearing date was listed.

OpenAI's response

The Next Web quotes OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri saying that safe AI development "starts with what companies like ours do themselves." It reports that OpenAI wants industry-wide rules rather than rules aimed at one company. WLRN quotes an OpenAI spokesperson saying the company has paused training its most capable models until it is confident in additional safeguards. Yahoo News reports that OpenAI disputes Florida's description of its teen protections and points to a more protective experience for minors, an age-prediction tool, default safeguards when a user's age is uncertain, and parental controls.

Source: "Stop calling it safe": Florida seeks temporary injunction on OpenAI (The Next Web) · 2026-10-06; Florida AG files to block ChatGPT development and place restrictions on OpenAI (WLRN) · 2026-10-06; Florida Wants a Court to Force ChatGPT to Verify Every User's Age (Yahoo News) · 2026-10-06

What OpenAI's own rules already say about kids

If you are under 18 you must have your parent or legal guardian's permission to use the Services.

OpenAI Terms of Use (effective January 1, 2026)

Source: OpenAI Terms of Use · 2026-10-06

This is why the quote matters. OpenAI's terms already set a minimum age of 13 and require parental permission for anyone under 18. Florida's argument is that this is mostly a rule on paper. Yahoo News reports the state's filing says the free version has no meaningful age screening, and that the paid version asks for a user's age without independently checking it.

Source: OpenAI Terms of Use · 2026-10-06; Florida Wants a Court to Force ChatGPT to Verify Every User's Age (Yahoo News) · 2026-10-06

Our take: the kids' rules might stick, but freezing models is a long shot

Split the motion in two. The parts about children are aimed at a real weak spot. Under-13 data collection already falls under COPPA-style consent rules, and OpenAI's own terms say teens need a parent's permission. If a judge pushes OpenAI to actually enforce rules it already wrote, we wouldn't call that overreach. We'd call it overdue. The demand to stop building new models unless an outside party approves is a different matter. That's one county court in one state trying to set the pace of a product used nationwide, before discovery has even started. Could happen? Sure. Would we bet on it? No. Uthmeier gets the headline either way.

The most underrated idea in the filing is the ban on "conversation prolongation." Anyone who has watched a chatbot finish every answer with yet another follow-up offer knows the habit. A ban on that design wouldn't hurt adult subscribers. It might even help them.

Who is affected if a judge grants it

What would change for Florida users

Florida minors, including teens on paid plans, could lose ChatGPT access while the case continues. That's the core request.
Adults in Florida might face stricter age checks. Yahoo News reports that a minors ban would likely require real age verification, which raises its own data-collection questions.
Everyone, not just Floridians, could feel a court-ordered halt on new model development, because OpenAI ships one product nationwide. Don't count on it, but this is the clause to watch.
Right now nothing has changed. No order has been issued, so there's no reason to cancel or switch plans yet.

Source: Florida Wants a Court to Force ChatGPT to Verify Every User's Age (Yahoo News) · 2026-10-06; Uthmeier asks court to temporarily block OpenAI from offering ChatGPT to minors (News4JAX) · 2026-10-06

For parents, right now

Don't wait for a judge. OpenAI's terms already require your permission for anyone under 18, and the company says it offers parental controls. If your teen uses ChatGPT, set those up together and agree on rules for using it.

Optional: see a third-party seller's ChatGPT listing (a seller listing, not official OpenAI access or an endorsement). That link carries our partner code Sk52g, which is how a purchase is attributed to this site. Promotion code UPD3S.

Sources (all read 2026-10-06)

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