Feds Summon OpenAI Reps After Platform Flagged BC School Shooter But Didn’t Report to Authorities

Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon has summoned OpenAI’s safety representatives to Ottawa after it was discovered the platform had flagged “concerning” interactions between the Tumbler Ridge shooter and the ChatGPT chatbot months before the deadly attack, but didn’t report the interactions to law enforcement.

Solomon said his team met with members of OpenAI on Feb. 22 and that he will meet with OpenAI’s safety team in Ottawa on Feb. 24.

“I have summoned the senior safety team from OpenAI in the United States to come here to Ottawa,” Solomon told reporters on Feb. 23.

“We will have a sit-down meeting to have an explanation of their safety protocols and when they escalate, and their thresholds of escalation to police, so we have a better understanding of what’s happening and what they do.”

OpenAI said in a Feb. 21 statement that it identified an account associated with Tumbler Ridge shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar last June, and banned the account after it was flagged for violating policy by a system that uses automated tools and human investigations.

However, OpenAI said the account didn’t meet the threshold required to inform law enforcement because the company couldn’t identify credible or imminent planning.

Van Rootselaar carried out a shooting at the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and at a residence in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., on Feb. 10, killing eight people and injuring 27. Van Rootselaar also died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Solomon said he is working with the public safety, justice, and heritage ministers to develop a “suite of measures” to protect Canadians, especially children.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser told reporters he didn’t expect to be joining Solomon’s Feb. 24 meeting, but noted he has engaged with Solomon, as well as Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree and Culture Minister Marc Miller on the issue.

“The idea that you have had employees raising flags internally and have not had that information shared, you can’t help but feel that some of these deaths could have been prevented, and that’s something we need to address,” Fraser said.

He noted that it’s “absolutely essential” that law enforcement have access to the information they need to investigate, prosecute, and prevent crimes.

For his part, Anandasangaree said it is “deeply troubling” to hear that OpenAI had flagged Van Rootselaar’s online activity but didn’t report it to law enforcement. He told reporters on Feb. 24 that OpenAI contacted the RCMP shortly after the Tumbler Ridge shooting, and is fully cooperating with the RCMP in the investigation.

‘I’m Angry’

The ministers’ comments come after a Wall Street Journal report said Van Rootselaar made posts last June using ChatGPT about gun violence scenarios. The report said the company’s employees had considered alerting authorities about Van Rootselaar’s concerning interactions with the chatbot at the time.

B.C. Premier David Eby, who is calling for national standards for AI companies on reporting potential threats, told reporters on Feb. 23 that there would be a public accounting by the company to explain why it only reported its concerns to police after the shooting.

“From the outside, it looks like OpenAI had the opportunity to prevent this tragedy, to prevent this horrific loss of life, to prevent there from being dead children in British Columbia,” Eby said. “I’m angry about that.”

While Eby said he was not trying to jump to conclusions, he said he hopes the company would clarify its decisions and the information would be made public either through a coroners’ inquest or a public inquiry.

Eby added that OpenAI had scheduled meetings with officials about the possibility of opening an office in British Columbia on the day of the shooting and the day after, but didn’t say it had any information to be concerned about.

He noted that OpenAI contacted his office for information on how to contact the RCMP on Feb. 12, the day after Van Rootselaar had been named.

The RCMP have confirmed that OpenAI contacted police after the shooting and that “digital and physical evidence is being collected, prioritized, and methodically processed” as part of the ongoing investigation.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.