Seven families of victims killed or injured in a mass shooting in Canada have filed lawsuits against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in a California court, accusing him and the company of ignoring the shooter's troubling interactions with ChatGPT.
Eight people were killed, including six children, when 18-year-old Jessie Van Rootselaar opened fire at a secondary school in the Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, in February.
Media reports have since revealed that Van Rootselaar's ChatGPT activity was flagged by OpenAI's safety team months before the attack for references to gun violence, but the company did not alert local police.
Last week, Altman apologised to families of the victims.
"I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement," Altman wrote in an open letter published by local news outlet Tumbler RidgeLines.
