OpenAI CEO Sam Altman issued a public apology in April 2026 to the residents of Tumbler Ridge, Canada, saying he is “deeply sorry” that his company failed to alert law enforcement about a user who later became the suspect in a mass shooting that killed eight people.
Police identified 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar as the suspected shooter. The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI had flagged and banned Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT account in June 2025 after he described scenarios involving gun violence. Company staff debated whether to contact authorities but ultimately decided against it, only reaching out to Canadian law enforcement after the shooting occurred.
Altman’s letter was first published in the local newspaper Tumbler RidgeLines. In it, he said he had spoken with Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka and British Columbia Premier David Eby, and that all parties agreed “a public apology was necessary,” while also noting that “time was needed to respect the community as you grieved.” Altman added that OpenAI’s focus will “continue to be on working with all levels of government to help ensure nothing happens like this again.”
Eby responded to the apology in a post on X, calling it “necessary, and yet grossly insufficient for the devastation done to the families of Tumbler Ridge.”
OpenAI has said it is updating its safety protocols in response to the incident, including adopting more flexible criteria for when accounts are referred to authorities and establishing direct points of contact with Canadian law enforcement. Canadian officials have said they are considering new regulations on artificial intelligence but have not made any final decisions.
Source: TechCrunch