Canada seeks answers from OpenAI for failing to alert police

Canada’s artificial intelligence minister has summoned OpenAI representatives after the company declined to notify police when it suspended the account of a user who later carried out one of the country’s worst school shootings. Evan Solomon said he was "deeply disturbed" by reports that OpenAI, which runs ChatGPT, suspended Jesse Van Rootselaar’s account in June 2025 over the "furtherance of violent activities" but did not inform Canadian law enforcement.

On 10 February, the 18-year-old killed eight people in Tumbler Ridge, including five students aged 12 to 13 and a 39-year-old teaching assistant; before the attack she also killed her mother and half-brother. The shooter described violent scenarios involving guns to ChatGPT over several days in June, and those exchanges were flagged by an automated review system.

OpenAI said it judged the activity did not show "credible or imminent planning" and banned the account without notifying authorities.

Canada, Tumbler Ridge

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