Canada province preparing lawsuit against OpenAI over school shooting

British Columbia said on July 7 that it was preparing a lawsuit against OpenAI over the company's failure to report violent ChatGPT activity by the person who committed a mass school shooting in the western Canadian province.



OpenAI had banned an account linked to Jesse Van Rootselaar in June 2025, months before the 18-year-old transgender woman killed eight people at her home and a school in the tiny mining town of Tumbler Ridge.



Canadian families impacted by the February shooting have already filed lawsuits against the US tech giant in a California court.



British Columbia said it was preparing a separate case, in coordination with the families, and had retained lawyers both in Canada and California.



Provincial Attorney-General Niki Sharma told reporters that the province wanted to "hold 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".