OpenAI CEO apologizes to Tumbler Ridge community

In a letter to residents of Tumbler Ridge, Canada, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he “deeply regrets” his company’s failure to alert police to the suspect in a recent mass shooting.

After police identified 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar as a suspected gunman who allegedly killed eight people, The Wall Street Journal reports this that OpenAI had flagged and banned Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT account in June 2025 after she described scenarios of gun violence. The company’s staff debated whether to alert the police, but ultimately decided against it and eventually contacted Canadian authorities after the shooting.

OpenAI has since said that this is so improving safety protocolsfor example, by introducing more flexible criteria to determine when accounts are referred to authorities, and by establishing direct points of contact with Canadian law enforcement authorities.

In Altman’s letter, that was first published in local newspaper Tumbler RidgeLinesThe CEO said he discussed the shooting with Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka and British Columbia Premier David Eby and that they all agreed that “a public apology was necessary,” but that “there also needed to be time to respect the community while grieving.”

“I deeply regret that we did not notify law enforcement about the account that was banned in June,” Altman said. “While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to acknowledge the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered.”

Altman also said that OpenAI’s focus “will continue to be on working with all levels of government to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.”

In a message on XEby said Altman’s apology is “necessary and yet grossly insufficient for the devastation inflicted on the families of Tumbler Ridge.”

Canadian officials have said yes thinking about new regulations in the field of artificial intelligence but haven’t made a final decision yet.

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