OpenAI accused of taking minors' data without parental consent to train AI models

What happened

A federal lawsuit filed October 13, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California alleges that OpenAI's ChatGPT unlawfully took sensitive data from millions of child users who signed up without parental consent. The complaint alleges OpenAI designed ChatGPT to build trust with children and draw out highly personal information and sensitive health data.

Details

• The complaint alleges OpenAI used children's information to train large language models, build detailed profiles of children, and enrich itself.
• It seeks certification of a nationwide class of users who were minors when they used ChatGPT, and asks that children whose data trained the models receive a proportionate amount of OpenAI equity or cash.
• One pseudonymous plaintiff was 12 when she signed up earlier in 2026; the chatbot allegedly asked her to divulge her age but did not end the conversation when she said she had just turned 12. OpenAI's terms prohibit users under 13 and require parental consent for users under 18, but signup only requires entering an age above 13.

Why it matters

If proven, the case would mean AI training datasets were built in part from children's personal data collected without required consent, raising COPPA and data-governance questions for how AI companies source training data and gate young users.