{"article":{"slug":"west-virginia-sues-snap-my-ai","kind":"rule","source":{"title":"Complaint, State of West Virginia ex rel. McCuskey v. Snap Inc., CC-20-2026-C-1339","url":"https://ago.wv.gov/media/37768/download","date":"2026-11-05"},"headline":"West Virginia sues Snap over My AI, citing the model vendor's own reliability warnings","whatChanged":"On November 5, West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey sued Snap Inc. in Kanawha County Circuit Court (CC-20-2026-C-1339) under the state's Consumer Credit and Protection Act. The complaint is mostly about Snapchat's child-safety practices. One section covers My AI, the chatbot the complaint says Snap released to all users on April 19, 2023. The State alleges Snap rushed it out, promoted its safety despite known failures, and misled users about its access to location and about where conversations go.\n\nTwo allegations concern third-party AI. The complaint says My AI relies on OpenAI's GPT models and quotes OpenAI's GPT-4 Technical Report, which says the model is \"not fully reliable\" and that care is needed \"in contexts where reliability is important\". It also says Snap's policy effective February 26, 2024 told users \"We do not share private communications with them\", meaning service providers, while My AI conversations went to OpenAI and conversation content went to Microsoft Advertising to select ads. The State seeks an injunction, restitution, disgorgement, independent monitoring and civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. These are allegations. No response from Snap was found, and OpenAI is not a defendant.","whyItMatters":"Snap is the defendant, but the complaint reaches back to the model vendor's documentation. The State uses OpenAI's published warnings about reliability to argue what a company building on GPT-4 knew, and it uses a privacy policy's wording about service providers to argue users were misled about where chats went. A company that puts a vendor's model behind its own brand can ask itself the same two questions: what the vendor's documentation says about limits, and whether its public wording matches where the data goes.\n\nThis is one state's complaint under a consumer-protection law, and nothing has been decided. It concerns a chatbot used by children, so adult-facing business tools sit further away.","issuer":"West Virginia Attorney General","glance":"West Virginia sued Snap November 5, alleging it misled users on My AI chats shared with OpenAI; allegations only.","status":"proposed","action":"Compare your chatbot's privacy notice and safety claims with the vendor documents it relies on.","attachments":[{"title":"Complaint, State of West Virginia ex rel. McCuskey v. Snap Inc.","url":"https://ago.wv.gov/media/37768/download","description":"The e-filed complaint, filed November 5: the My AI section (paragraphs 150 to 178), the Consumer Credit and Protection Act count and the prayer for relief, including civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation.","source":{"title":"Complaint, State of West Virginia ex rel. McCuskey v. Snap Inc., CC-20-2026-C-1339","url":"https://ago.wv.gov/media/37768/download","date":"2026-11-05"}},{"title":"Attorney General McCuskey sues Snapchat following two deaths, invests in education campaign","url":"https://ago.wv.gov/article/attorney-general-mccuskey-sues-snapchat-following-two-deaths-invests-education-campaign","description":"The Attorney General's November 5 press release summarizing the complaint's allegations about My AI testing, location access and sharing of conversations with OpenAI and Microsoft Advertising.","source":{"title":"Attorney General McCuskey sues Snapchat following two deaths, invests in education campaign","url":"https://ago.wv.gov/article/attorney-general-mccuskey-sues-snapchat-following-two-deaths-invests-education-campaign","date":"2026-11-05"}}],"companyLabel":"Public edition"},"issue":{"id":"2026-11-09","publishedLabel":"Week of November 9, 2026","isLatest":true},"position":{"index":4,"total":4},"next":null,"session":null}