Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, issued a formal apology after his company did not alert law enforcement about the online activity of an individual who later fatally shot eight people in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.
The letter, posted Friday on social media by British Columbia Premier David Eby and on the local news site Tumbler RidgeLines, expressed "deepest condolences" to the community.
I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement to the account that was banned in June.Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI in his letter
On Feb. 10, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her 39-year-old mother, Jennifer Jacobs, and her 11-year-old stepbrother, Emmett Jacobs, in their home.
Van Rootselaar then opened fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, killing five children and an educator before fatally shooting herself. Twenty-five people were injured in the attack.
OpenAI later disclosed that it had flagged Van Rootselaar's ChatGPT account in June 2025 through automated abuse detection tools and human investigators.
The account was banned for violating usage policies related to "furtherance of violent activities."
The company weighed a referral to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police but concluded the account activity did not meet the threshold of posing an imminent and credible risk of serious physical harm.
Premier Eby previously said it "looks like" OpenAI had a chance to prevent the mass shooting. Eby described the apology as "necessary, and yet grossly insufficient for the devastation done to the families of Tumbler Ridge."
Altman's apology arrived as OpenAI faces growing pressure on multiple fronts.
Earlier this week, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a criminal investigation into the company after reviewing messages between ChatGPT and a Florida State University student accused in an April 2025 campus shooting that killed two people.
Uthmeier said his team determined that ChatGPT offered "significant advice" to the alleged shooter.
His office is issuing subpoenas to OpenAI for records of its protocols for reporting possible crimes and its handling of user threats.
An OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement that after learning of the Florida incident, the company "identified a ChatGPT account believed to be associated with the suspect and proactively shared this information with law enforcement."
In his letter, Altman reiterated that OpenAI will remain focused on working with governments to help prevent future tragedies.