Canada has called senior officials from OpenAI to Ottawa to explain why the company did not alert authorities about suspicious online activity linked to a person who later carried out a deadly attack that killed eight people earlier this month.
OpenAI confirmed that in June 2025, its internal monitoring systems flagged a ChatGPT account connected to Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old transgender woman. She later murdered her mother, her brother, and six others at a school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on February 10. The account was detected during an internal review process designed to identify possible misuse related to violent content. After the review, the account was banned the same month. However, the company did not report the matter to Canadian law enforcement at that time.
Canada’s Artificial Intelligence Minister, Evan Solomon, described the decision as “very disturbing” while speaking to reporters in Ottawa. He said he had summoned OpenAI’s senior safety team from the United States for an in-person meeting in the Canadian capital. According to Solomon, the officials are expected to arrive on Tuesday to explain the company’s safety systems and decision-making process regarding such cases.
OpenAI has stated that it follows a strict and high threshold before contacting law enforcement when suspicious activity is detected. In this case, the company said the user’s activity on ChatGPT did not show clear evidence of an immediate or credible plan to carry out an attack, which influenced its decision not to notify police.
The company also expressed sympathy for those affected by the tragedy in Tumbler Ridge, saying its thoughts are with the victims and their families during this difficult time.
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