VANCOUVER — The CEO of OpenAI has sent an apology letter to the community of Tumbler Ridge for not alerting police about the mass shooter's use of ChatGPT ahead of the tragedy that left eight people dead.“I want to express my deepest condolences to the entire community. No one should ever have to endure a tragedy like this,” Sam Altman wrote in the letter dated Thursday.“I cannot imagine anything worse than losing a child. My heart remains with the victims, their families, all members of the community, and the province of British Columbia,” the letter continued.OpenAI previously admitted that the shooter’s account was flagged by an automated system for violating user policies, but human reviewers did not find “credible and imminent planning” of violence meeting the necessary threshold to contact police.The company also said that Jesse Strang (legal name Van Rootselaar) got around the ban by making a second account, which OpenAI only learned about after his name was released by RCMP.Strang, an 18-year-old biological male who had begun transitioning to female, murdered eight individuals, including five students, one teacher, and their mother and step-brother, before taking their own life.The shooting also injured 25 victims, including a pair of girls who were airlifted to B.C. Children's Hospital, where one remains.BC Premier David Eby has been especially critical of OpenAI’s involvement in the shooting, saying in a February 21 statement: “Reports that allege OpenAI had related intelligence before the shootings in Tumbler Ridge took place are profoundly disturbing for the victims’ families and all British Columbians.”.Eby shared Altman’s most recent apology letter on social media Friday, writing "the apology is necessary, and yet grossly insufficient for the devastation done to the families of Tumbler Ridge.”.As previously reported by the Western Standard, the family of Maya Gabela — one of many shooting victims who miraculously survived the tragic event — has filed a civil suit against OpenAI in the BC Supreme Court.The claim, registered on behalf of Cia Edmonds and her daughters Dahlia Gebala and Maya Gebala, lists as defendants the OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI GP LLC, OpenAI Group PBC, OpenAI Holdings LLC and OpenAI OpCo LLC. The plaintiffs are represented by counsel J. Rice.
