British Columbia Sues OpenAI Over Tumbler Ridge School Shooting

The Government of British Columbia filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Northern California against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, alleging the company's technology aided a mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on February 10. The attack resulted in eight deaths and more than 25 injuries; the suspect, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, died at the scene.

The lawsuit claims OpenAI designed an unsafe product and acted negligently by failing to report the suspect's chatbot activity to police. According to the filing, OpenAI's safety team flagged the shooter's ChatGPT account for references to gun violence months before the attack, but the company did not notify law enforcement despite internal alarms. The province is seeking damages to fund recovery efforts and a court order to reform how the company manages conversations that could incite violence.

British Columbia Attorney General Niki Sharma stated that there is "no AI exemption" to criminal law principles and argued that no company should be exempt from accountability because its technology is new. Sam Altman issued an open letter stating he was "deeply sorry" that the company failed to alert law enforcement regarding the banned account. This legal action follows separate lawsuits filed in California by more than 30 family members of the victims.