‘Deeply sorry’: Sam Altman admits OpenAI didn’t report Canada mass shooter’s ChatGPT account
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Deeply sorry’: Sam Altman admits OpenAI didn’t report Canada mass shooter’s ChatGPT account")
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the BlackRock Infrastructure Summit on March 11, 2026 in Washington, DC. Photograph: (AFP)
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman apologised for failing to alert authorities before the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting, as outrage grows over the tragedy that killed 8 and injured 25.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has issued a formal apology to the community of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, following a deadly mass shooting in February. In a letter dated April 23, Altman admitted that his company failed to alert the authorities to the disturbing conversations of the shooter with its chatbot ChatGPT despite the staff flagging the account internally. This comes months after the worst school shootings in Canada when an 18-year-old transgender woman shot her mother and stepbrother before open firing at a local school, killing eight people.
The letter addressed to the community of Tumbler Ridge, where the shooting occurred, was posted by David Eby, the Premier of British Columbia province.
‘Irreversible loss’
“The pain your community has endured is unimaginable,” Altman said in the letter. “I want to express my deepest condolences to the entire community. No one should ever have to endure a tragedy like this. I cannot imagine anything worse in this world than losing a child. My heart remains with the victims, their families, all members of the community, and the province of British Columbia.”
He further added, “I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement to the account that was banned in June. While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to recognise the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered.”
OpenAI CEO reaffirmed his commitment made to the Mayor and the Premier to find ways to “prevent tragedies like this in the future. “Going forward, our focus will continue to be on working with all levels of government to help ensure something like this never happens again,” he said.
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Eby called the apology “necessary, and yet grossly insufficient for the devastation done to the families of Tumbler Ridge.”
Canada mass shooting
On 10 February, Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her 39-year-old mother, Jennifer Jacobs, and 11-year-old stepbrother, Emmett Jacobs, in their northern British Columbia home before going to the nearby Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opening fire before killing herself. Five children and an educator were killed in the mass shooting, while 25 others were also injured.
