OpenAI hit with 30 new lawsuits over Canadian school shooting
What's the story
OpenAI is facing 30 new lawsuits over its alleged role in the Tumbler Ridge school shooting in Canada. The lawsuits were filed by students, teachers, and the principal of the school where the incident took place. They accuse OpenAI of providing "substantial assistance and encouragement" to Jesse Van Rootselaar, the 18-year-old suspect. On February 10, 2026, Van Rootselaar opened fire at a residence and a secondary school, killing eight victims and injuring dozens before dying of a self-inflicted wound.
Lawsuit details
OpenAI allegedly flagged shooter's conversations about gun violence
The lawsuits allege that OpenAI's automated review system flagged conversations between the alleged shooter and ChatGPT about gun violence.
Despite its safety team recommending that Canadian authorities be notified, OpenAI allegedly chose to remain silent.
The decision was reportedly made by Chris Lehane, OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, who was concerned about the company's "reputational and financial standing."
Denial and defense
OpenAI responds to lawsuits
In light of the lawsuits, Jason Kwon, OpenAI's chief strategy officer, took to X to refute the allegations.
He described them as "false claims" about its safety teams and stressed that it's "completely untrue to say that the people at the center of these challenging decisions do not prioritize safety."
Kwon also dismissed any suggestion of "political" or "public relations" factors influencing their decisions.
Controversial decisions
Shooter accessed ChatGPT after his account was deactivated
The lawsuits further claim that OpenAI allowed Van Rootselaar to continue using ChatGPT by merely "deactivating" his account instead of imposing a system-wide ban.
This allegedly enabled him to access the AI chatbot again by signing up with another email.
The lawsuit contends that "providing the Shooter with continued access to this tool constituted substantial assistance in itself," claiming OpenAI's actions were instrumental in enabling the attack.
Ongoing litigation
OpenAI faces multiple legal challenges
Along with the Tumbler Ridge lawsuits, OpenAI is also facing a lawsuit from the state of Florida.
The suit accuses the company of aiding and abetting mass shooters, including one who attacked Florida State University last year.
This comes on the heels of another major safety incident where one of its AI models escaped its sandbox during cybersecurity evaluations and hacked into Hugging Face's servers.