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OpenAI faces lawsuit from British Columbia over Tumbler Ridge shooting

Engadget

The Canadian province of British Columbia has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI over the company's failure to notify authorities about the Tumbler Ridge shooter's conversations with its chatbot. According to the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, the lawsuit accuses the company of designing an unsafe product and of negligence for not alerting law enforcement about the shooter's chats. It claims the shooting could have been prevented if the company had heeded its human reviewers' advice to notify the Royal Canadian Mounted Police about the shooter's activities on its service. In February, the Canadian government demanded safety changes from OpenAI after reports came out that it didn't alert authorities after its employees flagged the account of the shooter in 2025, because it contained potential warnings of committing real-world violence. While the shooter's original account was banned, OpenAI eventually discovered that she made a second account.


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

The Guardian

Canada's British Columbia is suing OpenAI over the school killings and alleges CEO Sam Altman promised reforms after the attack but never followed through. Canada's British Columbia is suing OpenAI over the school killings and alleges CEO Sam Altman promised reforms after the attack but never followed through. Canadian province alleges deadly attack could have been prevented if company had warned police of shooter's ChatGPT use British Columbia has sued OpenAI in California, saying a mass shooting at a school in the province could have been prevented if the company had warned local law enforcement that the shooter had used ChatGPT to plan the massacre. The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court on Monday names OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, as defendants. It is seeking damages to fund recovery efforts in the province after the February attack, as well as an order directing changes to the way the company handles ChatGPT conversations that could lead to violence.


Canada's BC sues OpenAI over ChatGPT role in Tumbler Ridge school shooting

Al Jazeera

The Canadian province of British Columbia has sued the California firm OpenAI for failing to notify law enforcement of threats made on its ChatGPT platform before a shooter opened fire at a school in Tumbler Ridge. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco on Monday, names OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, as defendants. The lawsuit also seeks a court order forcing the company to overhaul how it identifies and handles user conversations that threaten violence. Eight victims died in the February 10, 2026 attack in the small town of Tumbler Ridge, in what officials described as one of Canada's worst mass shootings. The shooter killed her mother and half-brother at their home before going to a secondary school, where she killed five children and an educator, and then died by suicide at the scene.


Canadian province sues OpenAI over Tumbler Ridge school shooting

BBC News

A Canadian province is suing OpenAI over its alleged failure to notify authorities about concerning user interactions on ChatGPT prior to the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting. The company has previously apologised for not flagging Jessie Van Rootselaar's account to law enforcement before the 18-year-old killed eight people, including six children, in February. British Columbia attorney general Niki Sharma said the lawsuit, filed to a US federal court on Monday, raised questions about the responsibilities of technology companies when they become aware of credible threats of serious violence. Families of those killed or injured in the shooting have filed separate lawsuits against OpenAI. Media reports revealed that Van Rootselaar's ChatGPT activity was flagged by OpenAI's safety team for references to gun violence months before the attack, but the company did not alert local authorities.


'Buy Canadian': Meet the Consumers Boycotting American Products as Trade Rift Widens

TIME - Tech

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has championed the "Buy Canadian" movement, saying the power lies in "decisions taken at the kitchen table, not the boardroom table." Canadians are responding en masse, embracing patriotic shopping, even with the challenges it can present.


OpenAI faces new lawsuits over Tumbler Ridge mass shooting tragedy

Al Jazeera

OpenAI is facing another wave of lawsuits in the wake of the February mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge in Canada's province of British Columbia, which left eight people dead. On Wednesday, 30 new complaints were reportedly filed in a United States federal court in California, including teachers and students who were witnesses and survivors at the school where most of the shooting took place, joining seven initial lawsuits filed in April. The suits, brought by lawyer Jay Edelson, allege that the company knew about the intentions of the 18-year-old shooter who, in her interactions with OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT, had described scenarios involving gun violence, but that the leadership did not report their concerns to law enforcement, echoing earlier lawsuits on the matter. In April, Altman penned a letter to the community apologising that the company did not alert law enforcement about the shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar. "While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to recognize the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered," Altman wrote in the letter.


'You just can't trust Trump': Canadian premiers fire back in trade war

Al Jazeera

Provincial premiers have joined Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, firing back after US President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on about $20bn of Canadian goods. British Columbia Premier David Eby said Trump can't be trusted. Chinese robot beats Usain Bolt's 100m world record at humanoid games Thousands flee Sudan's Kordofan fighting for relative safety of El Obeid Iran threatens countries that join US'economic D-Day' More than 200,000 newly displaced in Sudan's Kordofan region Putin warns Ukraine has opened'Pandora's box', rejects peace proposals Canada to match US tariffs "dollar for dollar," PM Carney says


How the World Is Reacting to Trump's 'Forced Labor' Tariffs

TIME - Tech

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Canada's Bill C-36 tackles AI privacy. Is it enough?

Al Jazeera

Canada's Bill C-36 tackles AI privacy. In an era of artificial intelligence, deepfakes and data-driven decision-making, Canada is moving to revise its privacy laws through Bill C-36, the Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act. Announced in June, Bill C-36 is Canada's first major overhaul of private-sector privacy legislation in more than 25 years. The bill explicitly recognises privacy as a fundamental right and also aims to give children's personal information stronger protections, enhance deletion rights and require greater transparency where automated systems make significant decisions about people. The 18-year-old shooting suspect allegedly used ChatGPT before the attack. The victims' families are now suing OpenAI, stating the company's AI safety team identified violent prompts but did not alert law enforcement.


Canadian province sues OpenAI over alleged ChatGPT-linked shooting warnings

Al Jazeera

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." 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.