In a letter to residents of Tumbler Ridge, Canada, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said his company “deeply regrets” its failure to notify law enforcement about suspects in recent mass shootings.
After police identified 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar as the suspect in the shooting that allegedly killed eight people, the Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI flagged and banned Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT account in June 2025 after he described a scenario involving gun violence. Company employees discussed alerting police but ultimately decided against it and eventually contacted Canadian authorities after the shooting.
OpenAI has since said it is improving its safety protocols, including establishing more flexible criteria for determining when accounts are referred to authorities and establishing a direct point of contact with Canadian law enforcement.
In Altman’s letter, which was first published in local newspaper Tumbler RidgeLines, the CEO said he discussed the shooting with Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka and British Columbia Premier David Eby, and they all agreed that “a public apology was needed,” but that “time was also needed to respect the grieving community.”
“I deeply apologize for not notifying law enforcement about the banned account last June,” Altman said. “We know words are never enough, but we believe an apology is necessary to recognize the harm and irreparable loss your community has suffered.”
Altman also said OpenAI’s focus is “to work with all levels of government to ensure this never happens again.”
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