Company refused to release suspect’s ChatGPT records, attorney general says
British Columbia on Monday filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in a US federal court, alleging the company failed to notify authorities about concerning user interactions on ChatGPT before the February mass shooting at a secondary school in the remote community of Tumbler Ridge.
Attorney General Niki Sharma announced the filing, framing it in broader terms about platform responsibility. The lawsuit raises questions about “the responsibilities of technology companies when they become aware of credible threats of serious violence,” Sharma said.
In the February attack, 18-year-old Jessie Van Rootselaar killed eight people, including six children, at the secondary school. Media reports have revealed that OpenAI’s safety team flagged Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT activity for references to gun violence months before the attack, but the company did not alert local authorities at the time.
In April, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman issued a public apology to the families of victims. “I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement,” Altman wrote in an open letter.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Sharma said the province had asked OpenAI to disclose the contents of Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT conversations, and that the company refused. “We should all be asking them: Why?” she said, according to CBC.
Sharma said the lawsuit was filed in California because the alleged decision not to report the shooter’s ChatGPT account occurred there, according to AFP. The BBC has requested comment from OpenAI on the new lawsuit.
“To date, OpenAI has not taken meaningful steps to address the concerns raised by survivors, families and the Tumbler Ridge community,” Sharma said in a statement. “The company still has an opportunity to demonstrate accountability by strengthening safeguards, improving transparency and taking concrete action to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.”
Sharma told reporters that she had not personally read the contents of the ChatGPT chats, and that any financial damages won by the province would be directed toward rebuilding the secondary school.
Families of those killed or injured in the February attack have filed seven separate lawsuits against OpenAI over the same allegations.