OpenAI Sued Over Failure to Warn Police Before Tumbler Ridge Mass Shooting

In brief

• OpenAI faces a lawsuit alleging ChatGPT played a role in a February mass shooting in British Columbia.
• Plaintiffs say OpenAI’s safety team urged the company to alert police months before the attack.
• The case could test whether AI companies must report violent threats to law enforcement.

OpenAI is facing a new lawsuit alleging the company failed to warn police after ChatGPT was linked to one of Canada’s deadliest school shootings. The lawsuit adds to growing scrutiny of how AI companies respond to signs of distress and real-world violence.

According to a report by Ars Technica, the lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in federal court in Northern California by an unnamed 12-year-old minor identified as M.G. and her mother, Cia Edmonds, against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and several OpenAI entities.

The suit accuses the company of negligence, failing to warn authorities, product liability, and helping to enable the mass shooting.

“Sam Altman and his leadership team knew what silence meant for the citizens of Tumbler Ridge,” the complaint states. “They were focused on what disclosure meant for themselves. Warning the RCMP would set a precedent: OpenAI would be compelled to notify authorities every time its safety team identified a user planning real-world violence.”

The case stems from a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, in February. Authorities say 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at home before going to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opening fire. Five children and one educator were killed at the school before Van Rootselaar died by suicide.

Among the injured was M.G., who was shot three times and remains hospitalized with catastrophic brain injuries. The complaint says she is awake and aware, but cannot move or speak.

Jay Edelson, founder and CEO of Edelson PC, the attorneys representing several of the families suing OpenAI, said the company’s own internal systems identified the risk, and multiple employees pushed for intervention.

“OpenAI’s own system flagged that the shooter was engaged in communications about planned violence,” Edelson told Decrypt. “Twelve people on their safety team were jumping up and down, saying that OpenAI needed to alert authorities. And, although Sam Altman’s response has been weak, even he was forced to admit last week that they should have called the authorities.”

Edelson said the families and the Tumbler Ridge community are demanding more transparency and accountability from the company.

“OpenAI should stop hiding critical information from the families, and they should not keep a dangerous product on the market, which is bound to lead to more deaths,” Edelson said. “Finally, they need to think long and hard about how they can maintain a leadership team that cares more about sprinting to an IPO than human lives.”