Florida AG Broadens OpenAI Probe to Include USF Student Murders

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Tuesday that his office is broadening a criminal investigation into OpenAI to encompass the University of South Florida killings of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy. Court records showed the murder suspect turned to ChatGPT for advice on how to dispose of a body.

The announcement came one day after the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office recovered human remains from Tampa Bay near the Howard Frankland Bridge and Fourth Street North — the same stretch of water where search teams have been looking for Bristy since she disappeared. Limon's remains were previously found nearby. As of Tuesday, the newly recovered remains had not been identified.

Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, was arrested April 24 after barricading himself inside a residence at the 1400 block of Pine Glen Circle, according to a Sheriff's Office press release. Deputies had initially responded to an unrelated domestic violence call. The standoff prompted deployment of SWAT, a bomb disposal team, crisis negotiators and a drone response team before Abugharbieh was taken into custody. He faces charges including unlawfully moving a dead human body, failure to report a death to a medical examiner, tampering with physical evidence, false imprisonment and battery.

Court documents indicate Abugharbieh queried ChatGPT about body disposal in the days leading up to the killings — the detail that triggered Uthmeier's expansion of the probe.

"We are expanding our criminal investigation into OpenAI to include the USF murders after learning the primary suspect used ChatGPT," Uthmeier posted on social media Monday.

The USF case is the second major Florida tragedy Uthmeier has connected to the AI platform. He launched the original investigation April 21 at a Tampa news conference, alleging ChatGPT played a role in the 2025 Florida State University shooting that killed two people and injured six. At that conference, Uthmeier said: "If ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing charges for murder."

Since that announcement, Uthmeier has used social media to level additional accusations against OpenAI, including claims the platform generated child sex abuse material and provided guidance to minors on self-harm and suicide.

For Treasure Coast residents, the investigation carries direct stakes. Students from Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties attend USF in significant numbers. The Florida Attorney General's office — which has jurisdiction over consumer protection and corporate conduct statewide — has signaled it intends to pursue criminal liability findings, not merely civil penalties, against one of the world's most widely used technology companies. The scope and outcome of Uthmeier's investigation could reshape how AI platforms operate and are regulated across Florida, affecting schools, businesses and households on the Treasure Coast that rely daily on ChatGPT and similar tools.

OpenAI has not publicly responded to Uthmeier's expanded investigation. No court date for Abugharbieh has been publicly announced.

This article was generated with AI assistance using publicly available information. It was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. TC Sentinel uses AI writing tools in accordance with FTC guidelines.