Canada Calls In OpenAI After Teen Linked To Deadly Killings Used Chatgpt

Canada has summoned senior OpenAI officials to Ottawa to explain the company’s safety protocols after it confirmed it did not alert police when it suspended the ChatGPT account of Jesse Van Rootselaar last year.

Van Rootselaar, 18, killed eight people in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on February 10 — including five students aged 12 to 13 and a 39-year-old teaching assistant — after first killing her mother and half-brother at home. She later took her own life.

OpenAI said it banned her account in June 2025 after internal systems flagged “misuses of our models in furtherance of violent activities.” The company said it considered referring the case to law enforcement but determined it did not meet its threshold of posing an imminent and credible risk of serious physical harm.

Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon said senior members of OpenAI’s safety team would travel from the United States “to have an explanation of their safety protocols, and when they escalate, and their threshold of escalation to police.”

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the Tumbler Ridge tragedy,” an OpenAI spokesperson said. “We proactively reached out to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with information on the individual and their use of ChatGPT, and we’ll continue to support their investigation.”

Authorities have also pointed to other elements of Van Rootselaar’s online activity, including creating a Roblox game that simulated a mall shooting and posting about guns on Reddit.