Families sue OpenAI over Canadian mass shooter's use of ChatGPT

Technology Families sue OpenAI over Canadian mass shooter's use of ChatGPT April 29, 20269:09 AM ET Geoff Brumfiel A woman mourns at a makeshift memorial for the victims of a deadly mass shooting that took place in the town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. A lawsuit filed Wednesday claims that OpenAI was negligent for failing to report the shooter to authorities after her account was flagged for "gun violence activity and planning." Paige Taylor White/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Paige Taylor White/AFP via Getty Images Families of those injured and killed in a school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia are suing OpenAI for negligence and providing a dangerously defective version of ChatGPT to the shooter. The six suits, filed in federal court in San Francisco, allege that OpenAI failed to take actions that could have prevented injuries and deaths in the shooting, which took place on February 10. They claim that the company failed to report the shooter's conversations with ChatGPT to authorities, and that ChatGPT itself was a defective product that did not challenge the shooter or direct her to seek real-world help. Sponsor Message The suits are the latest seeking to hold a tech company responsible over the design of its products, a once-novel legal approach that is being increasingly used against chatbot makers, social media and other platforms. Technology Verdicts against Meta and Google may bring a new era of big tech accountability For those who lost loved ones "there's nothing that the legal system can do that will make them whole again," Edelson told NPR in an interview. He added that they hope the trials will hold OpenAI leadership to account: "They should not be trusted to have the most powerful consumer technology on the planet." In a statement in response to the lawsuits, OpenAI said it had a "zero tolerance" policy for using its tools to assist in committing violence: "We have already strengthened our safeguards, including im...