The FSU shooter spent months planning a massacre with ChatGPT’s help.
But OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the world should just accept that kind of thing happening.
And Ron DeSantis dropped the hammer on Sam Altman after he told Americans to accept bad things from AI.
What Altman Actually Said
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sat down with Politico’s new Decoded podcast on October 4 and delivered one of the most chilling statements any tech executive has ever made on the record.
“We believe the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency,” he said.
He wasn’t talking about minor inconveniences.
He specifically said he would not trade away broad AI access to guarantee “no major hacks, no misuse of this technology, zero scams.”
The dead at Florida State University are apparently the price of doing business.
Ron DeSantis heard that and responded in West Palm Beach on Tuesday with four words that cut straight through the corporate spin.
“I didn’t think he got elected to make that decision for us, thank you very much.”
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2106873036834214184?s=20
He’s right.
Sam Altman runs a company that a Florida jury hasn’t exonerated yet – because Florida filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman in June, making Florida the first state in America to do exactly that.
The Man Behind the Machine
DeSantis didn’t stop at the obvious point.
He called the people building these systems “transhumanists.”
“They don’t necessarily believe human beings are central to the experience that we have on Earth or beyond, and they are perfectly comfortable with these things being considered sentient, being considered individuals and even displacing our central role as human beings,” DeSantis said.
That’s not a fringe accusation.
Silicon Valley’s AI elite have spent years openly embracing a worldview – sometimes called transhumanism, sometimes longtermism – that treats biological humans as a first draft to be improved upon or replaced.
His company, OpenAI, was originally created to ensure AI benefited all of humanity – then converted to a for-profit structure when the money got serious.
The men building these systems are not neutral engineers.
They have a theology, and it does not put you at the center.
What DeSantis Is Actually Fighting For
Florida already has skin in this game – literally.
Phoenix Ikner used ChatGPT for months before walking into the Florida State University Student Union on April 17, 2025 and killing two people.
The lawsuit Florida filed in June alleges OpenAI was negligent, engaged in unfair trade practices, and violated product liability laws.
The family of Tiru Chabba – one of the two people killed – filed their own federal lawsuit after discovering that Ikner had used ChatGPT to research school shootings, firearms, and the busiest times at the Student Union.
OpenAI’s response?
The company said ChatGPT “provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet.”
That’s the same logic Altman used with Politico – the good stuff outweighs the bad, move on.
Two families in Florida are not moving on.
DeSantis also flagged something most politicians won’t touch: the biggest buyers of AI technology are hospitals and insurance companies – and they’re not buying it to help you.
“Most businesses just aren’t going to pay what they’re asking for right now, unless they can really monetize those tools,” DeSantis said. “Well, who can monetize? A hospital can monetize. Insurance can help monetize.”
Think about what he’s actually describing.
The AI making decisions about your coverage, your treatment, your bill – that AI exists because your insurer found a way to monetize it.
You’re not the customer.
You’re what gets monetized.
The Fight Nobody in Washington Wants to Have
Trump announced a “Super Intelligence Force” over the weekend – an AI task force to promote the technology and protect American interests.
That’s the right call on China.
https://twitter.com/manolo63921/status/2107629338783092884?s=20
But here’s what nobody in Washington is saying out loud: the companies racing to win that competition believe you are a biological inconvenience on the way to something better.
He runs a company that started as a nonprofit, converted to profit when the billions started flowing, and now tells the world to accept dead students as the cost of his vision.
DeSantis tried to push consumer protection legislation through the Florida House this spring and got blocked by his own party – killed by a speaker who argued the federal government should handle it.
The federal government has not handled it.
Altman went on a podcast this week to tell you to accept the bad things.
Your hospital is already using the tools to decide what you’re worth.
And nobody who built any of it was elected to do a single thing.
Sources:
- Brendan Bordelon, “Sam Altman says the world should accept ‘some bad things happening’ for AI’s benefits,” Politico, October 4, 2026.
- Gray Rohrer, “Florida sues OpenAI, citing FSU shooting,” News Service of Florida, June 1, 2026.
- Bloomberg Law, “OpenAI Sued for Wrongful Death of Florida State Shooting Victim,” May 11, 2026.
- WCTV, “Family of FSU employee killed in 2025 shooting rampage files suit against OpenAI,” August 31, 2026.
- Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, press release, June 1, 2026.
