The suspect in the Tumblr Ridge school shooting described violent scenarios to ChatGPT

Suspect in Mass shooting at Tumbler RidgeBritish Columbia, Jesse Van Rotselaer had been raising alarms among employees at OpenAI months before the shooting occurred. Last June, Jesse had conversations with ChatGPT that included a description of gun violence that triggered the chatbot’s automated review system. Several employees raised concerns that her posts could be a precursor to real-world violence, and encouraged company leaders to contact the authorities, but they ultimately declined.

According to Wall Street Journalleaders at the company determined that Rotselaar’s posts did not pose a “real and imminent risk of serious physical harm to others.” The company banned Rootselaar’s account, but does not appear to have taken any further action. We’ve reached out to OpenAI to ask who specifically made this decision, how it was made, and will update if we hear back.

The decision not to alert law enforcement seems misguided in retrospect, as nine people were killed on Feb. 10 and 27 were injured, including Rotselaar, in Canada’s deadliest mass shooting since 2020. Rotselaar was found dead on the site of Tumbler Ridge High School, from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, where most of the killings occurred.