British Columbia sues OpenAI: the company knew about the Tumbler Ridge shooter's dangerous chats eight months earlier but did not warn police
Prepared by Sintelligent with the help of SI. Publication time restored from the build log. . Updated: .
SI companies are starting to be held responsible not only for what the bot said but also for what they learned and kept quiet about.
The government of the Canadian province filed a civil suit in California against OpenAI and Sam Altman: according to the plaintiff, the shooter's account came to OpenAI's attention as early as June 2025 because of multi-day conversations about armed violence; safety staff wanted to report to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but management did not support them; the shooter later opened a second account. The February shooting killed a teacher's aide, five students, and the attacker's mother and stepbrother. The province accuses the company of creating an unsafe product and negligence, and demands compensation of costs and payment for building a new school. Attorney General Niki Sharma called Altman's apology "necessary but completely insufficient."
Sources 2