"The civil lawsuit, brought by Gebala's mother Cia Edmonds, alleges Rootselaar set up an account with ChatGPT before she turned 18 - something users can do with parental consent. The plaintiffs allege no age verification took place on the site. The lawsuit claims the suspect saw the chatbot as a "trusted confidante" and described "various scenarios involving gun violence" to it over several days in late spring or early summer 2025."
"Twelve OpenAI employees then reportedly flagged the posts as "indicating an imminent risk of serious harm to others" and recommended Canadian law enforcement was informed, the lawsuit alleges. Instead, it is alleged the request to contact the authorities was "rebuffed" and the only action taken was to ban Rootselaar's account."
"The suspect was able to then open a second ChatGPT account, despite being flagged by OpenAI systems in the past, and "continue planning scenarios involving gun violence". The lawsuit claims the company "had specific knowledge of the shooter""
The family of Maya Gebala, a 12-year-old critically injured in a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, Canada on February 10, is suing OpenAI. The suspect, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, had used ChatGPT to discuss gun violence scenarios. OpenAI banned the initial account in June 2025 after detecting concerning conversations, but the company did not alert authorities, claiming the account did not meet its threshold for credible or imminent harm. Twelve OpenAI employees reportedly flagged the posts as indicating imminent risk and recommended contacting Canadian law enforcement, but this recommendation was allegedly rejected. The suspect subsequently created a second account and continued planning. Eight people were killed in the attack, making it one of Canada's deadliest shootings.
Read at www.bbc.com
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