B.C. says OpenAI refused to share Tumbler Ridge shooter's ChatGPT history B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma says OpenAI refused the province's request for the Tumbler Ridge shooter's ChatGPT records. The province has filed a lawsuit in California alleging the company failed to notify law enforcement about concerning chatbot use before the February attack. OpenAI has refused to share the Tumbler Ridge mass shooter's chatbot history with the B.C. government, Attorney General Niki Sharma said Monday while announcing that the province's lawsuit against the technology company has been filed in California. Sharma said the lawsuit, which was first announced in July, will focus on OpenAI's alleged failure to notify law enforcement about shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar's concerning ChatGPT use before February's devastating attack. The attorney general said the province is seeking answers about what happened before the shooting and why information from the chatbot interactions was not provided to authorities. The lawsuit is being pursued in California, where OpenAI is based.OpenAI's Internal Review of Alarming Chatbot ConversationThe case centres on communications between Van Rootselaar and ChatGPT before the attack. Sharma said the conversation was serious enough to prompt an internal review by OpenAI employees. The conversation between ChatGPT and the shooter was so alarming that it triggered an internal review by OpenAI employees, Sharma told reporters at a news conference in downtown Vancouver. We owe it to the families, survivors and everyone whose life was changed by this tragedy to get answers and accountability, Sharma said.She said the province's legal action is intended to examine the company's handling of the communications and its response to the warning signs. OpenAI has previously acknowledged that Van Rootselaar's ChatGPT communications were concerning enough for the company to ban the account. The company's action did not end access to the service, however, because the shooter later opened a second account. That second account allowed the use of ChatGPT to continue after the initial ban.The available details do not reveal what was said in the conversations, how the chatbot responded or what information OpenAI reviewed internally. The contents of the exchanges have never been publicly revealed. Their absence from the public record has left families, survivors and officials without a full account of the interactions that preceded the February attack. Sharma confirmed that the B.C. government has asked OpenAI to disclose the records connected to the accounts and conversations.Refusal to Disclose Chat History Prompts Legal ActionShe said the company refused the request. We should all be asking them why, Sharma added. Her comments put the refusal at the centre of the province's effort to hold OpenAI accountable and obtain more information about the chatbot's role before the shooting. The lawsuit's filing in California follows the province's earlier announcement that it intended to take legal action against OpenAI.The action is expected to focus on the company's decisions before the attack, including whether law enforcement should have been notified. The government's allegations concern both the handling of the original account and the subsequent account opened after the ban. Sharma has tied the case to the need for transparency about the company's review process and the information it had before the tragedy. The province has not released the requested chat history, because OpenAI has not provided it.As a result, the public still does not know the specific content of the conversations or the precise basis for the company's internal review. The dispute over the records is now part of the legal proceedings in California. The B.C. government says access to the material is necessary to understand what OpenAI knew, when it knew it and whether the company's response was sufficient.Province Seeks Transparency and Accountability in California CourtThe lawsuit is also framed by the impact of the Tumbler Ridge attack on families, survivors and the wider community. Sharma said those affected deserve answers about the events leading up to the shooting and accountability from the companies involved. OpenAI has acknowledged the account ban and the concerns surrounding the communications, but the details of the exchanges and the company's response have not been made public. The B.C. government's request for the records remains refused, according to Sharma.The province's legal action will now proceed in California as officials seek disclosure of the chatbot history. The case could bring further information about the communications, the internal review and the decision not to provide the records to B.C. authorities. This is a developing story and will be updated.