Altman Called 'Face of Evil' for Not Reporting School Shooter
Original: Sam Altman is “the face of evil” for not reporting school shooter, says lawyer
Why This Matters
Highlights AI safety team conflicts with business priorities in threat reporting
Seven lawsuits filed against OpenAI allege the company could have prevented Canada's deadliest mass shooting by reporting a ChatGPT user flagged by safety teams 8 months prior. OpenAI deactivated the account but didn't alert police, instead helping the user create new accounts.
Lawsuits filed in California court claim OpenAI's safety team identified a ChatGPT account linked to a Canadian school shooter as a credible gun violence threat eight months before the attack in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. Despite recommendations to notify law enforcement, OpenAI leadership rejected the safety team's warnings, citing user privacy concerns and potential police encounter stress. The company deactivated the account but provided instructions for creating new accounts. Police already had a file on the shooter and had previously removed guns from their home. Sam Altman later apologized, calling it a mistake, and promised better protocols. Attorney Jay Edelson, representing victim families, called Altman's apology 'ridiculous' and 'too late.'