Canada Shooting: OpenAI Under Fire as Sam Altman Admits Failure to Alert Authorities

An apology has come from Sam Altman after OpenAI failed to notify law enforcement about a flagged account tied to a deadly attack in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.

In a letter released on Friday, Altman expressed deep sorrow to the affected community, acknowledging that the company had banned an account linked to the attacker months before the incident but did not escalate it to authorities.

“I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement to the account that was banned in June”, he said, adding that while words cannot undo the damage, the apology is intended to recognise the profound loss suffered by the community.

The letter, dated Thursday, was shared by David Eby and also published by a local news platform.

Police say the February 10 attack involved an 18-year-old suspect who allegedly killed members of her family at their home before carrying out a shooting at a nearby secondary school. Several people were killed, while others were injured.

Following the incident, OpenAI confirmed it had earlier identified concerning activity on the suspect’s account through its safety systems, describing it as related to the “furtherance of violent activities”.

However, the company said it determined at the time that the activity did not meet the threshold for referral to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the account was instead banned for violating its policies.

Premier Eby had earlier suggested there may have been an opportunity to prevent the attack.

Altman said he has since spoken with community leaders, including the town’s mayor, who conveyed the depth of grief and anger felt in the area. He noted that the decision to issue a public apology followed a period of mourning.

He also reaffirmed the company’s commitment to working more closely with authorities to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Reacting to the apology, Eby described it as necessary, but insufficient given the scale of the loss and its impact on the victims’ families.