OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has issued an apology to the people of Tumbler Ridge in connection with a mass shooting in February. The municipality in Canada was thrown into chaos earlier this year after an 18-year-old killed six children and several adults before turning the gun on herself. The message from Altman came even as Florida opened a criminal investigation into OpenAI to determine whether ChatGPT was responsible for a fatal university shooting. The attackers in both cases had ‘confided’ in the chatbot and sought information to carry out their plans.

“I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement to the account that was banned in June. While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to recognize the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered……Going forward our focus will continue to be on working with all levels of government to help ensure something like this never happens again,” Altman wrote.

The letter dated April 23 was posted on social media by British Columbia premier David Eby on Friday. The official had previously said that it “looks like” OpenAI had the opportunity to prevent the mass shooting.

What is the Tumbler Ridge case?

According to the police, the 18-year-old alleged shooter (identified as Jesse Van Rootselaar) had killed her mother and 11-year-old stepbrother in their northern British Columbia home before heading to the nearby Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opening fire. The incident took place in early February and the attacker also killed themself. Five children and a teacher were killed at the school and around 35 others were left injured.

OpenAI had come forward after the shootings to reveal the tangential involvement of ChatGPT. The company said they had identified Van Rootselaar’s account in June last year using abuse detection efforts for “furtherance of violent activities”. The AI startup said it had debated whether to refer the account to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but determined at the time that the account activity didn’t meet a threshold for referral to law enforcement. OpenAI banned the account in June for violating its usage policy.

Florida begins criminal probe against OpenAI

The message from Altman came even as OpenAI faced a criminal investigation in Florida. Attorney General James Uthmeier said on Tuesday the state was launching a probe into the company and its artificial intelligence app ChatGPT over a deadly shooting last year that killed two people at Florida State University.

A gunman killed two people and wounded six others at Florida State University in April last year before he ⁠was ​shot by officers and hospitalised. The suspect was charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.

“The chatbot advised the shooter on what type of gun to use, on which ammo ​went ​with which gun, on whether or ⁠not a gun would be useful at short range…If it ‌was a person on the other end of that screen, we would be charging them with murder,” Uthmeier said in a press briefing.

His office said the investigation will determine whether “OpenAI bears criminal responsibility for ChatGPT’s actions in the shooting.”