British Columbia sues OpenAI in California over Tumbler Ridge school shooting
British Columbia has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in California over its failure to report violent ChatGPT activity before a school shooting that killed eight people.
British Columbia takes OpenAI to California court over deadly school shooting
British Columbia filed a lawsuit Monday against OpenAI in a California court, the Jamaica Observer reports, citing the company's failure to flag violent activity on its ChatGPT platform by the person who carried out a mass shooting at a school in the western Canadian province.
Attorney General Niki Sharma had announced in July that legal action was coming against the US technology company over its connection to the deadly February gun attack in Tumbler Ridge, a small mining town. The suit seeks "accountability and change" from OpenAI, Sharma told reporters.
OpenAI had previously apologised for not reporting the account linked to Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old transgender woman who killed eight people — her mother and brother at the family home, then five children and a teacher at the local secondary school. Van Rootselaar died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after police entered the building.
Families affected by the shooting have filed separate lawsuits against OpenAI in California. The company has already moved to dismiss those claims, arguing the cases belong in British Columbia, where any financial damages awarded would likely be substantially smaller than those a US court could grant.
Sharma addressed that point directly when reporters questioned the choice of venue. "The decision not to report happened in California," she said. "What we're alleging in our claim is that AI knew that there were serious things happening in that chat and they failed to report."
She declined to say how the province might use any settlement funds but indicated resources would go toward building a new school in Tumbler Ridge.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman apologised to residents of the town in April, writing in a public letter that he was "deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement to the account that was banned in June." The company has said it did not report Van Rootselaar's account at the time of its suspension because it saw no evidence of an imminent attack — but has also acknowledged that under updated security guidelines adopted after June 2025, the account would have been referred to police.
Lawyers representing the families have alleged OpenAI chose to remain silent because "reporting one case would mean reporting thousands." Their lawsuit further claims that when an account is suspended for dangerous behaviour, OpenAI provides the user with instructions on how to resume access, including tips on circumventing the 30-day suspension period.
Source: Jamaica Observer