OpenAI faces investigation from state attorneys general

11:45 PM IST · June 13, 2026

A coalition of state attorneys general has reportedly opened an investigation into OpenAI. The company wasserved with a subpoena from New York’s attorney general on Friday, according to The Wall Street Journal. That subpoena sought documents related to a broad range of topics including the company’s advertising, user engagement and retention, model sycophancy, handling of consumer data and health data, and treatment of minors and seniors. TechCrunch has reached out to OpenAI and the New York attorney general’s office for confirmation. A company spokesperson told the WSJ that OpenAI is cooperating with the investigation. “AI is a new and powerful technology, and we work every day to safely bring its benefits to people in a responsible way,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We take the concerns raised by state attorneys general seriously and intend to engage constructively with their offices.” According to Bloomberg, the spokesperson also said that ChatGPT now “includes a more protective experience for minors and people experiencing difficult situations, with safeguards that direct them to real-world resources and trusted human contacts.” The company declined to specify which states are involved in the investigation or to share more details about what information was requested. OpenAI recentlydefeated its co-founder Elon Muskin a high-profile trial, after Musk accused the company of violating its founding agreement. (Musk’s lead attorney said he will appeal the decision.) However, OpenAI still faces lawsuits over everything fromalleged copyright infringementtoChatGPT’s alleged role in suicide. Earlier this month, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeiersued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, claiming that OpenAI and Altman “ignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at great risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians.” Altman recentlyapologized to the community of Tumbler Ridge, Canadaafter a mass shooting; he acknowledged that OpenAI failed to alert law enforcement after the company flagged and banned the suspected shooter’s ChatGPT account. The company announced this week that it hasfiled confidentially to go public.

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Pixi’s new iOS app turns text messages into interactive AR experiences

Forget stickers, GIFs, and emoji reactions.Pixiis betting that the next evolution of messaging is interactive augmented reality (AR). The startup launched its messaging-native app on theApp Storeon Wednesday, allowing users to send AI-powered AR characters through iMessage. Instead of appearing as static media, the characters come to life through the recipient’s iPhone camera, where they can react to their surroundings, interact with people, and respond in real time. While AR isn’t new and shiny anymore—companies likeSnaphave created AR filters and lenses for years—Pixi believes its approach is different. By combining AR with on-device AI, its characters can understand what’s happening around them and behave accordingly. A virtual cat, for example, reacts when a real dog walks past. (According to the company, all visual and audio processing remains on the device to preserve user privacy.) Pixi founder Mark Drummond (ex-DreamWorks Animation and ex-Apple) says the app is designed to bring a greater sense of presence and spontaneity to digital conversations. Rather than sending a text to wish someone a Happy Birthday, users can send characters that create a shared experience, turning a simple message into something closer to a digital gift or playful interaction. “The consumer problem we’re solving is thinking of a friend when they’re not present,” he told TechCrunch. “Sometimes the psychology is called pebbling or creative gifting. You’re sharing tokens of affection, basically cards, e-cards, and gifts. That’s your dad, or, in some cases, your granddad’s media. We can do better. We can do something that’s digitally native, and that uses everything we learned about AR on the iPhone.” Earlier this week, Drummond demonstrated the app for us, selecting the cat character, which performed a series of stand-up jokes on his desk. Notably, the cat appeared to respond to Drummond’s facial expressions. For instance, the experience concluded when he smiled, showcasing the character’s ability to perceive emotional cues. At launch, users will have access to a robot, a cat, and an animated envelope character that can react to their voice and “attack” their friends in a playful way. If they move, the envelope will chase them. There are also games like tic-tac-toe and whack-a-mole. Pixi plans to expand beyond just a few characters. The goal is to create a marketplace where studios, brands, and independent creators can share their unique characters for users to choose from. The company envisions this being used for events like movie premieres or product launches, allowing characters to generate excitement, such as when M&Ms release a new flavor. Drummond also mentioned introducing Alice in Wonderland as a character option, as she is an open intellectual property. He pointed out that “our Alice character needs to react to objects that she sees on your desktop in an ‘Alice-consistent’ way,” to demonstrate to partners how their creations will interact with the technology. In the future, Pixi hopes to allow users to create their own characters and personalities. “Part of our plan is to open up those generative AI capabilities to our [users], so they can prompt their way to say something, like, ‘I want a blue blob that threatens my friend and growls at them and keeps chasing them on the phone,’” Drummond explained. To send a character to your friend, download the app on iOS and use iMessage by tapping the plus sign button in the lower left corner. No installation is required to receive a Pixi message. Initially, the app will be available only for iPhone models 11 and newer, but there are plans to expand to Android devices and messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram in the future. Also, while the app is free for users, brands will have the option to charge for their characters if they choose. “We’re going to encourage people to do it for free, because then people become your own brand ambassadors. You’re putting them in charge of using your characters to tell their own stories,” Drummond said.

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