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Tue, 22 Sep 2026

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 Canadian province sues OpenAI over Tumbler Ridge school shooting

British Columbia has accused the company of failing to report the shooter's troubling interactions with ChatGPT to law enforcement.
The province of British Columbia has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the company failed to notify authorities about concerning user interactions on ChatGPT prior to the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting. The province claims that OpenAI's safety team flagged Jessie Van Rootselaar's account for references to gun violence months before the attack, but did not alert local law enforcement. OpenAI has previously apologized for not flagging the account and its CEO Sam Altman expressed "deep regret" over the incident in an open letter. However, British Columbia attorney general Niki Sharma said that OpenAI still has not taken meaningful steps to address concerns raised by survivors and families of the victims. The lawsuit, filed in a US federal court, raises questions about the responsibilities of technology companies when they become aware of credible threats of serious violence. Any financial damages won by the province would go towards rebuilding the secondary school affected by the shooting. OpenAI has refused to disclose the contents of the chat with Van Rootselaar, according to Sharma.