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Canada summons OpenAI over failure to report mass shooter / Photo: © AFP
Canada summons OpenAI over failure to report mass shooter
Canada has summoned senior leadership from OpenAI to Ottawa to explain the company's decision not to report suspicious online activity by an individual who later killed eight people this month.
OpenAI has confirmed that in June 2025 its abuse‑detection efforts identified a ChatGPT account linked to Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18‑year‑old transgender woman who murdered her mother, brother, and six people at a school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on February 10.
The company told AFP that the account was identified through an investigative process that looks for usage related to violent activity.
The account was banned that month, but the company did not inform Canadian police at the time.
That decision was "very disturbing," Canada's Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon told reporters Monday in Ottawa.
"I have summoned the senior safety team from OpenAI in the United States to come here to Ottawa," Solomon said.
"They will come here tomorrow (Tuesday), and we will have a sit‑down meeting to get an explanation of their safety protocols," he added.
OpenAI has said it uses a very high bar when deciding whether to involve law enforcement after identifying a suspicious account.
Concerning Van Rootselaar, it decided not to inform Canadian police because her ChatGPT usage did not point toward credible or imminent planning of an attack.
"Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the Tumbler Ridge tragedy," the company said in a statement last week.
"We proactively reached out to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with information on the individual and their use of ChatGPT, and we'll continue to support their investigation," it added.
Solomon said he "immediately" contacted OpenAI when he first read media reports that the company "did not contact law enforcement in a timely manner."
He did not specify what actions or new legislation Ottawa might consider to regulate the use of artificial intelligence moving forward, but said "all options are on the table."
Canada was shocked by the shootings in Tumbler Ridge, a small picturesque mining town built four decades ago, 1,180 kilometers (733 miles) north of Vancouver.
Van Rootselaar's victims at the school included five children and a teacher. The shooter died there of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.
She had a history of mental‑health challenges, and the RCMP had previously visited her home.
Unlike the United States, Canada has strict gun laws and mass shootings are extremely rare.
The killings in Tumbler Ridge were among the worst outbursts of violence in Canadian history.
D. Fjodorow--BTZ
