Canada Summons OpenAI Over ChatGPT Account Linked to School Shooting

(MENAFN) Canada’s Minister for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, Evan Solomon, called OpenAI representatives to Ottawa after learning that the teenager responsible for a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, had been banned from ChatGPT months before the attack.

Authorities said Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother and half-brother on February 10 before entering a local secondary school, where she shot and killed five students and an educational assistant, then took her own life.

Solomon stated that OpenAI had disabled Van Rootselaar’s account in June after it was flagged for troubling content, but the company did not notify law enforcement at the time because it did not identify any credible or imminent threat.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the account had been flagged for posts involving scenarios of gun violence. Following the shooting, OpenAI contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and confirmed that senior leaders will travel to Ottawa to meet with Canadian officials to review the company’s safety measures and reporting protocols.

Solomon said he was “deeply disturbed” by the reports and requested an explanation of OpenAI’s escalation policies. He did not comment on whether Ottawa will move to regulate AI chatbots, stating that all options remain under consideration.

MENAFN25022026000045017640ID1110786164