Canadian province sues OpenAI over alleged ChatGPT-linked shooting warnings

Lawsuit claims OpenAI ignored calls to alert authorities about violent ChatGPT prompts tied to mass shooting suspect.The Canadian province of British Columbia is preparing to sue OpenAI, alleging the US company failed to alert police after its staff internally flagged violent ChatGPT conversations linked to the person responsible for February’s Tumbler Ridge mass shooting.Attorney General Niki Sharma announced Tuesday that the province has hired legal teams in British Columbia and California to “explore all legal avenues to hold OpenAI and its decision-makers accountable for its documented failure to notify law enforcement regarding explicit, flagged threats made by the perpetrator on the company’s ChatGPT platform.”Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Canada’s PM Carney to visit Tumbler Ridge after mass school shootinglist 2 of 4OpenAI’s Sam Altman apologises over failure to report Canadian mass shooterlist 3 of 4Families sue OpenAI, alleging chatbot aided in Canadian school shootinglist 4 of 4Mother sues OpenAI in US after daughter’s death linked to ChatGPT useend of listOpenAI is based in San Francisco, California in the United States.The move stems from the February 10 attack in the remote mountain community of Tumbler Ridge, where authorities say 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed their mother and half-brother before going to the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opening fire.Five children between the ages of 11 and 13 and one educator were killed at the school. Twenty-seven other people were wounded before Van Rootselaar died from what police described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.In a statement, Sharma’s office said internal reports from OpenAI showed that its safety teams flagged the shooter’s “violent prompts on ChatGPT months before the attack, yet the company’s leadership did not notify police or local authorities”.“When there are serious concerns that opportunities to prevent harm were missed, we have a responsibility to act,” said Sharma.