British Columbia sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over Tumbler Ridge mass school shooting

British Columbia has sued OpenAI in California, saying a mass shooting at a school in the province could have been prevented if the company had warned local ⁠law enforcement that the shooter ⁠had used ChatGPT to ​plan the massacre.

The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court on Monday names OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, as defendants. It is seeking damages to fund recovery efforts in the province after the February attack, as well as an order directing changes to the way the company handles ChatGPT conversations that could lead to violence.

Nine people, primarily children, were killed in the school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The shooter, Jesse Van ⁠Rootselaar, had been flagged by the company’s safety team after her conversations about gun violence, but the company did not alert police.

Altman published a letter ​to the community saying he was “deeply sorry” OpenAI had not contacted ‌law enforcement. He promised reforms, but never ‌followed through, despite efforts from British Columbia’s attorney general to engage, the lawsuit says.

The school where the shooting took place is in the process of being ‌demolished, and the province has been forced to absorb the costs of a replacement school, mental health care and other effects of the shooting, according to the lawsuit.