Canadian province sues OpenAI over Tumbler Ridge school shooting
British Columbia has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in a U.S. federal court, accusing the artificial‑intelligence firm of failing to report the threatening behavior of 18‑year‑old Jessie Van Rootselaar, who used ChatGPT to discuss gun violence before carrying out a school shooting in Tumbler Ridge that killed eight people, including six children. The province’s attorney general, Niki Sharma, said the suit raises “the responsibilities of technology companies when they become aware of credible threats of serious violence,” and noted that any damages awarded would be directed to rebuilding the secondary school. The legal action follows earlier complaints from victims’ families, who have also sued OpenAI over the same incident.
OpenAI’s internal safety team had flagged Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT interactions months before the February attack, identifying references to firearms and violent intent, yet the company did not alert local law‑enforcement authorities. In April, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman issued an open‑letter apology to the victims’ families, expressing deep regret for not notifying police. Sharma, who has not seen the actual chat transcripts, has demanded that OpenAI disclose them, accusing the firm of refusing to provide the information and of not taking meaningful steps to address the concerns of survivors and the Tumbler Ridge community.
The lawsuit adds to a growing wave of legal challenges against OpenAI, with at least seven separate actions filed by families of the Canadian mass‑shooting victims. While the British Columbia case was lodged in California because the alleged decision not to report occurred there, the province emphasizes that any financial recovery will be used to reconstruct the damaged school. OpenAI has yet to comment publicly on the new filing, and the outcome could set precedent for how tech companies are held accountable for monitoring and reporting extremist content generated by their AI systems.
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