The families of the victims of one of the worst mass shootings in Canadian history are taking OpenAI to court in California “to pursue landmark damage awards,” according to firm Rice Parsons Leoni & Elliott.
In a news release from the firm, lawyers say the Tumbler Ridge, B.C., shooter’s ChatGPT account was banned for “disturbing content,” which allegedly included planning violent scenarios, prior to the February tragedy.
“However, despite some 12 different OpenAI employees imploring the company to notify Canadian law enforcement about the Shooter’s plans, nothing else was done,” the firm said.
The shooting on Feb. 10 in the northern B.C. town of Tumbler Ridge left eight people dead before the shooter killed herself.
The firm said litigating the cases in Canada would be challenging, and damages for pain and suffering are capped at about $470,000.
Instead, the victims’ families will bring their cases against OpenAI in California “to pursue landmark damage awards.”
The firm noted a lawsuit filed in B.C. by the family of Maya Gebala, who was seriously injured in the shooting, has been discontinued.
OpenAI responded to news of the lawsuits in a statement to CBC News by saying it has a “zero-tolerance policy for using our tools to assist in committing violence.”
“As we shared with Canadian officials, we have already strengthened our safeguards, including improving how ChatGPT responds to signs of distress, connecting people with local support and mental health resources, strengthening how we assess and escalate potential threats of violence, and improving detection of repeat policy violators,” the statement said.
More to come.
