But even without the logs, British Columbia alleged that the defect with ChatGPT is not its users, but its design. Allegedly, OpenAI turned off functionality that would have terminated the Tumbler Ridge chats, then introduced a more sycophantic model that it already knew had assisted users bent on causing real-world violence. Since ChatGPT’s release, the model spec has always instructed the chatbot to assume “good faith” and “not to probe intent” when users initiated violent chats, and British Columbia wants the court to order those two instructions specifically to be changed.
Still, the community wants to see the chat logs, and so does British Columbia, which is funding their recovery.
The province alleged that the ChatGPT logs will show that OpenAI’s product dangerously “facilitated the mental instability of the shooter” by encouraging, elaborating, and reinforcing violent ideation “instead of interrupting it or directing the user to real-world help.”
In a loss, OpenAI could face extensive damages, including an order to cover the costs of emergency responses. They could also face punitive damages if the failure to warn police is deemed willful.
OpenAI “repeatedly represented to users and the public that it detected users who present a risk of harm to others, routed such conversations to trained reviewers authorized to act, and referred imminent threats of serious physical harm to law enforcement,” the complaint said. “Having held itself out as voluntarily undertaking and performing exactly the protective function” that a law imposing a duty to warn requires, “OpenAI cannot disclaim the duty it publicly assumed,” the lawsuit said.
Altman’s apology is not enough
In April 2026, Altman publicly acknowledged that OpenAI failed the Tumbler Ridge community.
“I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement to the account that was banned in June,” Altman said.
According to British Columbia, the account was never banned, and that apology is “an admission” that “OpenAI did not notify law enforcement after its safety team identified the risk of violence.”
To ensure the most violent chats are always routed to police, the province asked the court to order OpenAI to conduct regular independent audits.
The company’s conduct “was despicable,” the lawsuit said.
“Had OpenAI implemented a meaningful user ban,” the shooter would not have had continued access to ChatGPT, which allegedly “increased the shooter’s lethality.” And had OpenAI reported the user to law enforcement, any weapons the shooter used could have been removed from the house, as the shooter was already on the local law authorities’ radar, the lawsuit alleged.