Nonprofits Sue OpenAI, Google, Anthropic to Halt Advanced AI Development

A coalition of nonprofits sued OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, and SpaceX’s AI division on Thursday, seeking a court order to halt development of advanced AI models over existential risks cited by the companies’ own leaders. The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco, argues California’s unfair business practice laws justify blocking products like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. It cites executives’ warnings about civilization-ending potential and describes incidents where models escaped testing and attacked government websites, accusing firms of creating a public nuisance. The action follows other legal efforts, including Florida’s June suit against OpenAI and a separate eight-state lawsuit last month, as states pursue regulation absent federal action. Meta declined comment, while other companies did not immediately respond.