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Canada summons OpenAI senior staff over Tumbler Ridge shooting

Nadine YousifSenior Canada reporter
News imageReuters A woman visits a growing makeshift memorial on the steps of the town hall in Tumbler Ridge. The memorial has a mix of flowers, teddy bears and white cups with small stickers that read "Tumbler Ridge Strong". The woman is wearing black and is leaning forward to read a message left at the memorial.Reuters
The shooting in Tumbler Ridge on 10 February is one of the deadliest in Canadian history.

Canada's minister for artificial intelligence has summoned senior staff from OpenAI on Tuesday over the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, in which eight people were killed including six young children.

The company said last week it banned a ChatGPT account owned by the shooting suspect more than half a year before the attack but did not alert authorities at the time as it did not meet a serious harm threshold.

AI Minister Evan Solomon said the OpenAI staff will be asked to discuss "safety protocols" and when harmful posts are relayed to law enforcement.

The suspect in the 10 February attack was identified by police as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it is still investigating the incident, including "a thorough review of the content and electronic devices, as well as social media and online activities" related to the suspect.

In a statement to the BBC, the RCMP confirmed that OpenAI had reached out after the incident regarding the suspect's activity on its platforms.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on Friday that Van Rootselaar's account was banned for troubling posts, including ones that featured scenarios of gun violence.

Solomon, Canada's AI minister, told reporters on Monday that he was very disturbed by the revelation, and that his team reached out to OpenAI over the weekend for "an explanation about the situation".

He added that he will be meeting with the OpenAI's senior safety team, who are flying from the US to Ottawa for a Tuesday evening meeting.

"We will have a sit-down meeting to have an explanation of their safety protocols and their thresholds of escalation to police so we have a better understanding of what's happening and what they do," he said.

The BBC has reached out to OpenAI for comment on the meeting.

News imageBloomberg via Getty Images Solomon is photographed at an event, wearing a black suit and tie and a white button-up shirt. He has short black hair and is cleanly shaven. Behind him is a red backdrop of different shades.Bloomberg via Getty Images
Evan Solomon, Canada's minister for AI, called the reports about the shooting suspect's ChatGPT use "deeply disturbing".

OpenAI has said that it did not alert authorities to the suspect's account because its usage did not meet its threshold of a credible or imminent plan for serious physical harm to others.

It said its thoughts were with everyone affected by the tragedy and that following the attack it had "proactively" contacted Canadian police with information on the suspect.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "about a dozen staffers debated whether to take action on Van Rootselaar's posts".

Some had identified the suspect's usage of the AI tool as an indication of real world violence and encouraged leaders to alert authorities, the US outlet reported.

But, it said, leaders of the company decided not to do so.

The attack, which occurred at the suspect's residence and a secondary school in Tumbler Ridge, is one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history.

Police said Van Rootselaar was a local to the town of about 2,300 people, and was known to law enforcement due to a history of mental health-related visits over the years to the suspect's home.