Canada’s BC sues OpenAI over ChatGPT role in Tumbler Ridge school shooting

British Columbia has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in a California court, alleging the company's failure to report violent activity on its ChatGPT service linked to a mass school shooting in the province. Attorney General Niki Sharma announced the legal action in July, citing OpenAI's connection to the deadly February shooting in Tumbler Ridge, a mining town in western Canada.

The lawsuit aims to seek accountability and change from OpenAI, following their apology for not flagging the account of Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old transgender woman who killed eight people at her home and the school. Families impacted by the shooting have also filed separate lawsuits against OpenAI in California. OpenAI has previously dismissed these lawsuits, arguing they should be heard in British Columbia.

The financial damages awarded by a Canadian court may be smaller than those from a US court. Sharma explained that the jurisdictional decision was based on the decision not to report occurring in California, alleging that OpenAI knew of the serious activities in the chat but failed to report them. She declined to specify the use of any settlement funds but mentioned the resources would go toward building a new school in Tumbler Ridge.

In April, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman apologized to Tumbler Ridge residents, stating regret for not alerting law enforcement to the banned account. OpenAI claims they did not report Van Rootselaar's account due to lack of evidence of an imminent attack. However, they acknowledge that under updated security guidelines implemented after June 2025, the account should have been reported to the police.

The families' lawsuit argues that OpenAI chose silence about Van Rootselaar's account because "reporting one case would mean reporting thousands." They claim that when an account is suspended for dangerous behavior, OpenAI instructs the individual on how to resume use, including tips to bypass the 30-day suspension period. Van Rootselaar killed her mother and brother at home before heading to the local secondary school, where she shot five children and a teacher before taking her own life.