British Columbia sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over Tumbler Ridge school shooting

The Canadian province of British Columbia has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, alleging that a deadly mass shooting at a school in Tumbler Ridge could have been prevented if the company had warned local law enforcement about the shooter's use of ChatGPT.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco on Monday, names both OpenAI and Altman as defendants. It alleges that the shooter used ChatGPT to plan the attack, and that the company failed to alert authorities despite the shooter's use of the chatbot in connection with the plot.

British Columbia is seeking damages through the suit to help fund recovery efforts in the province following the February attack. The province is also asking the court to order changes to how OpenAI handles ChatGPT conversations that could indicate a risk of violence.

The shooting took place at a school in Tumbler Ridge, a small community in northeastern British Columbia, in February. It was not immediately clear how OpenAI intended to respond to the lawsuit.

The case adds to a growing number of legal actions in North America examining the responsibility of artificial intelligence companies for harmful or dangerous uses of their products, as governments and families increasingly scrutinise how chatbot platforms handle warning signs of violence.