Altman apologizes after OpenAI failed to alert police before fatal Canada shooting | US news
The head of OpenAI has written a letter apologizing for his company’s failure to alert law enforcement about the online behavior of a person who fatally shot eight people in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.
In the letter released Friday, Sam Altman expressed his deepest condolences to the entire community.
“I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement about the account that was banned in June,” Altman said. “While I know words are never enough, I believe an apology is necessary to acknowledge the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered. »
The letter, dated Thursday, was posted Friday on British Columbia Premier David Eby’s social media channels as well as local news site Tumbler RidgeLines.
On Feb. 10, police said an 18-year-old suspected shooter, identified as Jesse Van Rootselaar, killed his 39-year-old mother, Jennifer Jacobs, and 11-year-old half-brother, Emmett Jacobs, in their northern British Columbia home before driving to nearby Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opening fire, killing five children and an educator before killing himself.
Twenty-five people were also injured in the attack.
After the incident, OpenAI said that last June the company identified Van Rootselaar’s account using abuse detection efforts for “incitement of violent activity.”
The San Francisco tech company said it considered referring the account to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but determined at the time that account activity did not meet the threshold required to be referred to law enforcement. OpenAI banned the account in June for violating its usage policy.
At the time, Eby said it “looked” like OpenAI had the opportunity to prevent the mass shooting.
In his letter, Altman said he spoke with Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka and Eby and they “conveyed the anger, sadness and concern” felt in the community. It was agreed that a public apology was warranted, but that time was needed for the community to grieve.
“I want to express my deepest condolences to the entire community,” Altman said. “No one should ever have to endure a tragedy like this. I can’t imagine anything worse in this world than losing a child.
“My heart remains with the victims.”
Altman reaffirmed his commitment to finding ways to prevent similar tragedies.
“Going forward, we will continue to focus on working with all levels of government to ensure that a situation like this does not happen again,” he said.
Eby, in a social media post, called the apology “necessary, yet grossly insufficient for the devastation caused to the families of Tumbler Ridge.”
