Canadian province slams OpenAI with massive lawsuit over tragic school shooting #
Vancouver, Canada - The Canadian province of British Columbia on Monday filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in California over the company's failure to report violent activity on ChatGPT by the person who committed a mass school shooting in February.
British Columbia Attorney General Kiki Sharma on Monday told reporters that the province had filed a lawsuit in California seeking "accountability and change" from OpenAI.
The artificial intelligence (AI) company, as well as CEO Sam Altman, has apologized for not flagging the account of Jesse Van Rootselaar, the 18-year-old who killed eight people at her home and school in February.
Tumbler Ridge families impacted by the shooting have filed numerous separate lawsuits against the US tech giant in California. OpenAI has moved to dismiss those family lawsuits, arguing any legal actions related to the shootings should be heard in British Columbia.
The financial damages that could be awarded by a Canadian court would likely be substantially smaller than a prospective award from a US court.
Reporters asked Sharma why British Columbia believed California was the appropriate venue for its action.
"The decision not to report happened in California," she said. "What we're alleging in our claim is that AI knew that there were serious things happening in that chat and they failed to report."
Sharma declined to specify how the province might use any settlement funds, but said resources would be devoted to building a new school in Tumbler Ridge.
OpenAI has said that it did not report Van Rootselaar's account at the time of the suspension because it saw no evidence of an imminent attack.
Lawyers for the families suing the company have alleged that OpenAI chose to stay silent about Van Rootselaar's account because "reporting one case would mean reporting thousands."
Cover photo: AFP/Paige Taylor White