B.C. may ‘use the courts’ to sue OpenAI over Tumbler Ridge shooting

The British Columbia government has hired lawyers in both B.C. and California to pursue legal action to hold OpenAI accountable for its part in the shooting that left eight victims dead in the northern community of Tumbler Ridge last February.

Attorney General Niki Sharma said Tuesday that no company or corporate leader should escape accountability when public safety is at stake.

“The province is preparing legal action to hold artificial intelligence company OpenAI and its decision makers accountable for their failure to notify law enforcement of the violent prompts made on its ChatGPT platform by the perpetrator prior to the tragedy in Tumbler Ridge,” Sharma said.

Shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother and brother in their family home on Feb. 10, moved on to the local secondary school to gun down five students and an educational assistant and then turned the weapon on herself.

The 18-year-old’s use of ChatGPT before the murders is now the subject of multiple lawsuits filed by family and community members of the victims against the chatbot’s creator, OpenAI, and company founder Sam Altman.

Sharma said “we were all shocked” by the revelation the killings might have been prevented had OpenAI reported the shooter’s “alarming” messages on the platform.

OpenAI founder Sam Altman wrote a letter of apology to the community for not alerting police when the firm’s staff flagged the killer’s account.

“The pain your community has endured is unimaginable,” Altman’s letter said.

The B.C. government has a long history of fighting for accountability over corporate wrongdoing, she said, and it would ensure residents aren’t left bearing the costs of the tragedy in Tumbler Ridge.

The province would pursue damages on behalf of the government, including the costs of building a new school, she said, adding the “claim is broad” at this point.

“The events of Feb. 10 will forever remain a dark chapter in our province’s history. Nothing can undo what happened,” Sharma told a news conference.

“But the steps I’m outlining today are about seeking accountability and justice. Justice for the families who lost loved ones, those who were injured and for a community that is navigating unimaginable pain and preventable loss.”

Sharma said the work is in its early stages and the public would be kept informed as the potential case develops.

The province was the first to launch legal action decades ago seeking damages against tobacco manufacturers, while its lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors recently cleared legal hurdles, allowing it to proceed.

Sharma said any legal action the B.C. government would take against OpenAI would be separate from litigation launched by others.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced last month that Ottawa would contribute $200 million toward building a new high school in Tumbler Ridge and modernizing the local health-care centre.

B.C.’s public safety minister, Nina Krieger, said in May that the police investigation into the shooting was in its final stages, and because no criminal trial will be held, the coroner had already announced it would hold an inquest into the deaths.

By Brenna Owen