British Columbia to Sue OpenAI Over School Shooting

British Columbia is preparing a lawsuit against OpenAI due to the involvement of a ChatGPT prompt in a mass school shooting that occurred in June 2025, where 18-year-old Jess Van Rootselaar killed eight people in Tumbler Ridge. The provincial attorney general, Niki Sharma, indicated that the province seeks to hold OpenAI accountable for its failure to notify law enforcement about violent prompts generated by the ChatGPT platform prior to the tragedy.

The families affected by the shooting have already filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in California, and British Columbia is coordinating a separate case. Sharma emphasized the need for corporate accountability and mentioned that the legal process will take time, with funds from the lawsuit aimed at helping the community rebuild, including constructing a new school.

OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, expressed deep sorrow in a public letter for not alerting law enforcement about Van Rootselaar's account before the incident, stating that there was no evidence of an imminent attack at the time of the account's suspension.