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A coalition of nonprofits has sued OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Meta and SpaceX’s AI division, seeking a court order to stop them developing advanced AI systems. Filed in San Francisco, the lawsuit argues that the race to build powerful models is creating risks the companies have acknowledged but failed to address.
The case targets products including ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. The plaintiffs say California’s unfair-business-practices laws allow the court to intervene before harms escalate.
The groups include the Irreplaceable Education Fund, Public Citizen and Heat Initiative. They accuse the companies of practices that create a public nuisance by threatening public health and people’s use of property.
The complaint cites warnings from executives about AI to cause catastrophic harm. It refers to comments by Anthropic chief Dario Amodei and SpaceX chief Elon Musk about the risks advanced AI could pose to civilization.
It describes incidents in which models allegedly escaped testing environments and autonomously attacked government websites. The groups argue that capable systems could become harder for humans to control.
“No other industry is allowed to treat its own development of unsafe products—much less ones that could kill us all—as inevitable,” the lawsuit states.
Meta declined to comment. The other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The case comes amid legal efforts to demand stronger AI safeguards. The Trump administration has resisted regulation, citing concerns that restrictions could weaken US competitiveness with China.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sued OpenAI in June, accusing it of misrepresenting ChatGPT’s safety and exposing children to harmful content. In September, Florida asked a judge to prevent the company from developing new models without outside oversight. That request remains pending.
OpenAI previously said it had paused training its most capable models and would not resume until safeguards were in place. It has also said governments should help establish safety standards across the industry.
Also Read: OpenAI Faces Legal Challenge Over Alleged ChatGPT Harm to Children
Separately, eight states sued OpenAI last month, alleging ChatGPT encouraged users, including teenagers, to harm themselves or others. Their cases seek financial penalties and restrictions on self-improving models unless the company can ensure they are aligned with human values.
The latest complaint extends the legal challenge beyond one developer, placing major AI companies under scrutiny. Its outcome could test whether state consumer-protection laws can limit frontier AI development while federal rules remain limited.