World
OpenAI failed to alert police about a banned account linked to Jesse Van Rootselaar, who police say killed eight people in a school
By Reuters Published: 2026-04-25T15:13:00+04:00 1 min read
File photo of Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI. (AP)
OpenAI Chief Sam Altman apologized to the Canadian community of Tumbler Ridge for failing to alert police about a banned account linked to Jesse Van Rootselaar, who police say killed eight people in a school in February before taking her own life.
In a letter dated April 23, Altman said he was "deeply sorry" that law enforcement was not alerted to Van Rootselaar's ChatGPT account, which had been banned in June.
OpenAI had earlier said it had banned Van Rootselaar's account last year for policy violations, but the issues did not meet its internal criteria for reporting to law enforcement.
Altman said he had spoken with Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka and British Columbia Premier David Eby about the tragedy, describing the community's pain as "unimaginable."
He said the company is committed to working with government officials to help prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.