TL;DR — Key Takeaways
- OpenAI is facing 30 additional federal lawsuits tied to the February Tumbler Ridge mass shooting, bringing the total number of related legal actions to 37.
- The new complaints accuse OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman of negligence, product liability and, more controversially, aiding and abetting the shooting.
- Plaintiffs allege OpenAI safety personnel identified the shooter as a credible gun-violence threat months before the attack and urged leadership to contact Canadian authorities.
OpenAI is facing 30 additional federal lawsuits over its alleged role in a February mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, bringing the total number of legal actions against the artificial intelligence (AI) giant to 37.
The complaints, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, represent victims, surviving students, teachers, and school administrators impacted by the tragedy. Eight people, mostly children, were killed and dozens were wounded when 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar carried out a shooting rampage at her family home and Tumbler Ridge Secondary School before dying by suicide.
The expanded legal filings introduce severe claims, accusing OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman not only of product liability and negligence, but also of aiding and abetting a mass shooting — a charge requiring proof of intent that is expected to face swift legal challenges.
According to court documents, internal messages reveal that members of OpenAI’s safety and intelligence teams flagged Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT account eight months prior to the attack, identifying her as a “credible and specific threat of gun violence.” Staff reportedly urged leadership to alert Canadian authorities after discovering conversations involving attack planning and gun violence.
Instead of contacting law enforcement, OpenAI deactivated her account. The lawsuits claim Van Rootselaar quickly created a new profile to resume using the platform and accuse executives of failing to act out of concern over public relations and regulatory scrutiny.
The complaints specifically allege that Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer and a former Clinton administration strategist, overruled recommendations to notify law enforcement, a decision the suits claim was ratified by Altman.
OpenAI strongly rejected the allegations.
“It is absolutely false to say Chris Lehane was involved with our original referral decision, or that our investigators report to him in any way,” said Jason Kwon, OpenAI’s chief strategy officer. “It’s also completely untrue to say that the people at the center of these challenging decisions do not prioritize safety, or that there are ‘political’ or ‘public relations’ factors at play.”
OpenAI previously maintained that Van Rootselaar’s activity did not meet its internal threshold of an “imminent and credible risk” required to breach user privacy and contact police.
However, the new lawsuits challenge that defense, pointing to a November 2025 incident where OpenAI immediately locked down its San Francisco headquarters and alerted local police over a threat to its own staff, despite acknowledging no indication of an active or imminent attack.
“When its own people were at risk, no ‘privacy’ interest stopped OpenAI from notifying the police,” one complaint charged.
The filings coincide with growing global scrutiny surrounding generative AI safety. OpenAI faces seven separate lawsuits framing ChatGPT as a “suicide coach,” alongside a civil lawsuit and criminal investigation in Florida following a mass shooting at Florida State University.
In the wake of the Tumbler Ridge shooting, Altman issued a formal apology to the community. British Columbia Premier David Eby acknowledged the gesture online, calling the apology “necessary, and yet grossly insufficient for the devastation done.”
