OpenAI is facing a new round of lawsuits from witnesses and victims of the February mass shooting in a Canadian town; the suspect spent days talking to ChatGPT (Georgia Wells/Wall Street Journal)

OpenAI is facing new lawsuits from witnesses and victims of a February mass shooting in a Canadian town. The shooting occurred on February 10 in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, where 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed eight people, including six at a school. According to the lawsuits, Van Rootselaar spent days talking to ChatGPT before the shooting.

The new lawsuits, filed in California, bring the total to 37 claims against OpenAI and its founder Sam Altman related to the mass shooting. The plaintiffs include educators, a principal, and students who were in the building during the attack but not physically shot. One student, a 13-year-old referred to as 'A.C.', was trapped in the library and witnessed the shooter kill a teacher at close range.

OpenAI has denied claims that it was negligent in preventing the shooting. According to NPR, OpenAI's global affairs team, led by Chris Lehane, allegedly decided not to alert police about the suspected shooter. OpenAI had identified an account connected to Van Rootselaar in June and banned it for violating usage policy, but did not refer it to law enforcement as it did not meet the threshold for an imminent and credible risk of serious physical harm to others.

The lawsuits also accuse OpenAI of aiding and abetting the mass shooting, a claim that requires proving intent from the company.

Brief written by urgent.news from Techmeme, CBC Canada, NPR, Global News, TechCrunch — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.