The shooting incident in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia (BC), which left eight people dead, has sparked controversy over the fact that the suspect’s ChatGPT account had been frozen before the incident, and that OpenAI, the developer, did not report this to the police.
The Wall Street Journal reported on February 20th that OpenAI had suspended the ChatGPT account of suspect Jesse Van Reutzeler (who died after the shooting) in June of last year. The reason for the suspension was said to be posts about gun violence. However, the company did not report the incident to the police, citing its criteria at the time as “not credible and not an imminent criminal plan.”
In response to this, Canadian Minister of Artificial Intelligence Evan Solomon, along with other relevant ministers, met with OpenAI executives in Ottawa on the 24th. After the meeting, Minister Solomon told reporters he was “disappointed.” Furthermore, on the 26th, Anne O’Leary, the company’s vice president of global policy, revealed in an open letter that a second ChatGPT account in the suspect’s name had been discovered after the incident, and that this account had been reported to police.
The letter states that the company has been strengthening its law enforcement reporting protocols for several months and is currently working to establish a direct line of communication with Canadian law enforcement, strengthen its model for connecting users with local mental health support when needed, and improve its detection systems to identify repeat violators of its policies. However, in a statement on the 27th, Minister Solomon expressed dissatisfaction, saying that while he appreciated the company’s enthusiasm for the measures it presented, “we have yet to see a concrete plan for how to implement them.”
He said he plans to meet with the company’s CEO, Sam Altman, and sounded the alarm that legislation regarding AI needs to be rushed. British Columbia Premier David Eby is also scheduled to meet with Sam Altman. On the 20th, the premier released a statement saying, “The reports that OpenAI had relevant information prior to the incident are extremely shocking to the families of the victims and all British Columbia residents.”