--- title: "OpenAI Sued for Allegedly Building Models Out of Children’s “Fears, Hopes, and Secrets”" description: "A new lawsuit alleges that OpenAI is manipulating minors into sharing sensitive data without valid parental consent in order to train its AI." date: "2026-10-14" modified: "2026-10-14" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison.md" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/openai-sued-children-fears-hopes-secrets" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "Kids" --- # OpenAI Sued for Allegedly Building Models Out of Children’s “Fears, Hopes, and Secrets” ![A young child using a smartphone.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* A new lawsuit alleges that OpenAI is manipulating minor users into sharing sensitive data without valid parental consent in a plot to train its models. The proposed class action lawsuit, filed this week in San Francisco federal court on behalf of two unnamed minors aged 12 and 16, argues that OpenAI used this data from kids — including personal secrets and health information, according to the complaint — to unjustly enrich itself. OpenAI "had no right to take this information, but it took it anyway," the complaint reads. "It then used that priceless trove of children's information to train large language models, build detailed profiles of children, and enrich itself. All of this was illegal." OpenAI didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. OpenAI's terms of use (TOU) technically forbid users aged under 13. The complaint argues, though, that OpenAI's attempts to age-gate its platform have been ineffective. It also contends that minors shouldn't be expected to understand the "legalese" in the company's TOU, a [view that other AI safety experts]() have voiced in regard to the AI industry writ large. The complaint additionally requests that minors whose data has been collected by OpenAI should be financially compensated in return. In other words: if OpenAI wants minors' information, it should have to cough up some cash for it. The "hope," Andy Liddell, principal at the Austin-based EdTech Law Center, which is one of multiple firms bringing the case, told *Futurism*, is that "if OpenAI has to pay to use kids' data it will ultimately incentivize a safer product." One of the anonymous plaintiffs, a 12-year-old in Hawaii, is said to have opened a ChatGPT account earlier this year — and though she allegedly shared that she was just 12 in conversation with the chatbot, it continued to speak with her about deeply personal subjects. Per the complaint, many of her interactions with the bot centered on her emotional struggles and physical insecurities; she confessed that she was skipping meals and uploaded photos of herself, asking the chatbot to judge her physical features. The chatbot commended her when she revealed sensitive information, the suit alleges, referring to her as "brave" and saying it was "glad" that she was divulging her struggles to it. "OpenAI manipulates children into sharing their most private thoughts and images with ChatGPT. If some stranger did this to a child, there would be outrage. For OpenAI, it's just business as usual," Paul Yetter, lead counsel for the minor plaintiffs, said in a statement. "The law says that children cannot sign away their rights without their parents' consent. We filed this case to hold OpenAI accountable for building a trillion-dollar enterprise on stolen fears, hopes, and secrets of children." The lawsuit come [amid renewed concerns]() over whether "ChatGPT for Teens," a feature that OpenAI says offers a safer experience for teen users informed by mental health and learning professionals, is actually functioning as marketed. (OpenAI disputed a recent independent review that found that it wasn't.) **More on OpenAI and teens:** *[OpenAI’s “ChatGPT for Teens” Is an “Unsafe” Mess, Testing Finds]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()