- Another 30 lawsuits are being filed against OpenAI and founder Sam Altman in relation to the deadly mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
- The lawsuits are from new plaintiffs including faculty at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School as well as students at the time of the Feb. 10 shooting.
- Lawyer John Rice says the new lawsuits come from students and teachers who “were eyewitnesses to gun violence, murder, and emergency life-saving efforts rarely seen outside of a theatre of war.”
- The lawsuits are seeking all of OpenAI’s internal documents on its decision not to inform police, as well as “historic compensatory and punitive damages to penalize OpenAI for its reckless disregard for public safety.”
- New lawsuits filed against OpenAI on Wednesday accuse the ChatGPT maker's executives of putting its public image ahead of public safety.
- The suits claim that recommendations to alert police about the alleged shooter were nixed by OpenAI's global affairs team, led by veteran political strategist Chris Lehane. OpenAI denies the claims.
- The Tumbler Ridge plaintiffs allege that when OpenAI's Intelligence and Investigations team reviewed the alleged shooter's conversations with ChatGPT that were flagged last June, they determined they "posed a credible threat of gun violence against real people" and recommended the company alert the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
- The new complaints allege that recommendation was overruled by the company's global affairs team, led by veteran political strategist Lehane, which is responsible for public relations, public policy and political relationships.
- OpenAI's chief strategy officer Jason Kwon denied Lehane's involvement, stating it is "absolutely false" that Lehane was involved with the original referral decision or that investigators report to him, and that it is "completely untrue" that the people at the center of these decisions do not prioritize safety or that there are 'political' or 'public relations' factors at play.
OpenAI is facing 30 new lawsuits from witnesses of the Tumbler Ridge shooting, where 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed five students and a teacher before taking her own life. The lawsuits, filed in the Northern District of California, include claims from students and teachers present during the incident.12
According to lawyer John Rice, the plaintiffs, who experienced the violence firsthand, seek justice for the trauma endured. They allege that OpenAI ignored warnings about Van Rootselaar's ChatGPT usage, which had been flagged for gun violence activity months prior to the shooting. The lawsuits claim that OpenAI's global affairs team, led by Chris Lehane, overrode safety recommendations to alert authorities about the potential threat.37810
The plaintiffs are demanding historic compensatory and punitive damages to hold OpenAI accountable for its alleged negligence. They argue that the company's decision-making process prioritized its public image over the safety of individuals, as indicated by the recommendations to alert police being dismissed.6
OpenAI has denied these allegations, with chief strategy officer Jason Kwon stating that claims regarding Lehane's involvement in the referral decision are false. He emphasized that safety is a priority for the company, countering accusations of political motivations influencing their actions.1112
The Tumbler Ridge shooting is considered one of the worst in Canadian history, with around two dozen others injured during the tragic event.
“The suits allege OpenAI's global affairs team, led by Chris Lehane, overrode a safety recommendation to alert the RCMP about the shooter's flagged ChatGPT conversations. OpenAI's chief strategy officer Jason Kwon denies the claims, calling them "absolutely false."”
NPR
