Family of student shot in school sues OpenAI over attack
The family of a 12-year-old student, Maya Gebala, has sued OpenAI, parent company of ChatGPT, for the severe injuries sustained by their child during a school shooting in Canada.
A lawsuit against OpenAI by the family of the student accused the company of failing to alert the school to the incident despite warning signs linked to the shooters activities on its ChatGPT application.
Ms Maya, who suffered severe brain injuries was shot in February, in a mass shooting incident which occurred at her Tumbler Ridge school, by suspect, Jesse Van Rootselaar.
Eight people were killed in the attack, including five young children and the suspect’s mother.
The family of the victim also accused OpenAI of failing to verify the age of Ms Rootselaar at the time of her registration on its platform, claiming that the suspect opened an account on the chat box before turning 18.
The lawsuit claimed that the chat box was a “trusted confidant” of the suspect during months of her constant communication with it, since late last year.
The victim’s family said that “the platform failed to implement adequate safeguards that could have prevented the violence. “
As reported by the BBC, the victim’s family also accused the chat box company of reviewing the suspects conversations, months before the shooting but it failed to alert law enforcement authorities.
They claimed OpenAI only banned the suspect.
The suspect was however able to open a second ChatGPT account, despite being flagged by OpenAI systems in the past, leading to continuous planning scenarios on gun violence.
The family of the victim claimed that the severe injuries sustained by their child was as a result of the company’s conduct in raising awareness to enforcement agencies on dangerous activities as that of the shooter.
However, OpenAI in a statement late last month described the incident as an “unspeakable tragedy,” reiterated its commitment to ensure safety through strengthening of its systems in the future.
The company’s vice-president of global policy Ann O’Leary stated, “OpenAI remains committed to working with government and law enforcement officials to make meaningful changes that help prevent tragedies like this in the future.”
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