Lawsuit demands OpenAI pay for new school after ChatGPT used in shooting

British Columbia has taken OpenAI to court over a mass shooting that tore through the tiny mining community of Tumbler Ridge and left a school in ruins. The province says the company owes far more than an apology: it should change ChatGPT so it can’t be used to help plan violence, then help cover the cost of rebuilding and recovery.

The complaint, filed Monday, says Tumbler Ridge Secondary School had to be demolished after 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar died there in February. By then, Van Rootselaar had already killed five children and an education assistant at the school. Before that, the shooter also killed their mother and half-brother.

That brings the death toll to eight. British Columbia says this is the first time it has laid out just how severe the response has been, and how much the tragedy has cost the community.

The province’s lawsuit adds to an earlier case brought by victims’ families, who had already sued OpenAI over its failure to warn law enforcement after learning in advance that ChatGPT was being used to plan the violence. Now the province is pushing the fight beyond questions of warning signs and into the blunt business of who pays when the damage is this deep.