Two months after the deadly shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, OpenAI’s Sam Altman has formally apologized for not notifying police about a dangerous ChatGPAT conversation he observed from the suspect’s account. Prior to the incident, OpenAI had banned the account belonging to the alleged shooter, Jesse Van Ruetselaer, for violating its usage policy due to the potential for real-world violence.
“I deeply regret that we did not alert law enforcement about the account being banned in June,” Altman wrote in the letter. “While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to recognize the harm and irreparable harm caused to your community.”
Altman noted in the letter, which was published in full tumbler ridgelinesThat he spoke with both Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakow and British Columbia Premier David Eby agreed that “a public apology was necessary, but it was also necessary to respect the community at that time as you grieve.”
Eby, who also highlighted Altman’s letter in her post on X, agreed that “an apology is necessary,” but said it was “grossly inadequate to the devastation caused to the families of Tumbler Ridge.” Moving forward, Altman reaffirmed in the letter that OpenAI will “find ways to prevent tragedies like this in the future” and will work with all levels of government to prevent something like this from happening again. Altman’s latest commitment builds on a previous letter from Ann O’Leary, OpenAI’s vice president of global policy, who said the company would notify authorities if it detected “imminent and credible” threats in ChatGPT conversations.
<a href