British Columbia Sues OpenAI Over Tumbler Ridge School Shooting

British Columbia filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, in a San Francisco federal court on September 21, alleging the company could have prevented the February mass shooting at a school in Tumbler Ridge had it alerted local law enforcement. The shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, had used ChatGPT to plan the attack, which left nine people dead, most of them children, before she died by suicide at the scene.

According to the lawsuit, OpenAI's internal safety team had flagged conversations in which Van Rootselaar discussed gun violence months before the attack, but the company chose not to notify the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The province argues that a single call to police could have prevented the tragedy.

The lawsuit seeks damages to cover British Columbia's recovery costs, including construction of a replacement school and ongoing mental health services for survivors, as well as a court order requiring OpenAI to change how it handles conversations that could signal a risk of violence. Altman previously wrote that he was deeply sorry the company had not alerted authorities and promised reforms, which the lawsuit says were never carried out.