British Columbia Sues OpenAI for Alleged Failure to Alert Police on ChatGPT Threats

Lawsuit claims OpenAI ignored calls to alert authorities about violent ChatGPT prompts tied to mass shooting suspect.

Published On 7 Jul 20267 Jul 2026

The Canadian province of British Columbia is preparing to file a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the U.S.-based company neglected to inform law enforcement after internal reviews identified violent ChatGPT conversations that appeared to be linked to the perpetrator of the February Tumbler Ridge mass shooting.

Attorney General Niki Sharma announced on Tuesday that the province has retained legal counsel in British Columbia and California to “examine all possible legal routes to hold OpenAI and its executives accountable for their documented failure to notify police about explicit, flagged threats made using the company’s ChatGPT platform.”

OpenAI, headquartered in San Francisco, California, is facing scrutiny over its handling of warning signs.

According to Sharma’s office, internal OpenAI reports indicated that safety teams had flagged the shooter’s disturbing prompts months before the attack, yet company leadership did not alert police or any local authorities.

“When there are serious concerns that opportunities to prevent harm were missed, we have a responsibility to act,” Sharma said.

The planned lawsuit is distinct from a separate lawsuit filed by families of seven victims in California against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, seeking redress for five fatalities and two injuries caused by the shooting.

Lawyers representing the families disclosed that in June 2025 — roughly eight months before the tragedy — OpenAI marked the shooter’s account as “disturbing” after it discussed and planned violent scenarios on ChatGPT, and that twelve different employees had urged the company to contact police, but no action was taken.

OpenAI had previously informed Canadian media in February that it had suspended the account after it was flagged and had contemplated reporting it to law enforcement, ultimately deciding against it because the content did not appear to pose “an imminent and credible risk of serious physical harm to others.”

Altman later issued an apology in a local newspaper, expressing deep regret that the company had not contacted authorities prior to the incident.

“I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement to the account that was banned in June,” he wrote to the Tumbler Ridge community. “While words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to acknowledge the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered.”

The province’s lawsuit will be separate from the victims’ litigation.

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