OpenAI is challenging a British Columbia privacy order that would require the artificial-intelligence company to turn over documents connected to the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting, placing the handling of ChatGPT interactions at the centre of an ongoing legal dispute.
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for B.C. said Friday that the California-based company has applied to the B.C. Supreme Court for judicial review. The court application challenges an order issued by the privacy office requiring OpenAI to produce information sought during an investigation.
The dispute follows the deaths of eight people on Feb. 10, including five students and an educational assistant at Tumbler Ridge’s local secondary school. The shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, later died by suicide, according to the information released in the source material.
Privacy office seeks records and policies
The provincial privacy office said it first contacted OpenAI after media reports connected ChatGPT with the killings. It sought information about the company’s policies and practices, as well as details about how its applications interacted with Van Rootselaar.
The request was not limited to a single exchange, according to the office. It included material relating to personal information, such as content uploaded by a user, and interactions involving other ChatGPT users that may have appeared in chatbot responses.
“policies, practices, and the specific interactions that its applications had”
The privacy commissioner’s office said OpenAI did not comply with the initial request. In response, the agency opened a formal investigation in June. It later issued an order in September compelling the company to provide the information.
| Development | Timing |
|---|---|
| Privacy office seeks information from OpenAI | After reports linked ChatGPT to the killings |
| Provincial investigation begins | June |
| Production order issued | September |
| OpenAI seeks judicial review | Oct. 30, 2026 |
Focus includes possible influence on behaviour
The office said its investigation is examining whether the collection, use or disclosure of personal information through the applications was appropriate in the circumstances. It is also considering the possibility that chatbot responses could affect a person’s conduct.
That does not amount to a finding that the technology caused the shooting or that any particular interaction led to the violence. Rather, the privacy office is seeking records so it can assess the company’s practices and the nature of the information involved.
The agency described the potential effect of responses on behaviour as part of the circumstances it must consider. The wording underscores the still-unresolved questions facing investigators: what information may have been exchanged, how the company’s systems handled it and what responsibilities arise when a platform identifies troubling activity.
Account was closed after concerning behaviour flag
OpenAI shut down Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT account in June 2025 after it was flagged for concerning behaviour, the source material says. The company did not notify police at that time.
The account closure and the absence of a police notification are now part of the broader public discussion surrounding the company’s conduct. The privacy investigation, however, remains focused on the use of personal information and the appropriateness of the company’s practices, rather than constituting a final determination about criminal responsibility.
OpenAI had not immediately responded to a request for comment when the report was published. Its court challenge means the company is contesting the privacy office’s demand through the provincial court system rather than providing the requested material under the September order.
Legal action extends beyond the privacy dispute
The B.C. government has already said it is pursuing legal options against OpenAI. Several victims and their families have also filed lawsuits against the technology company, according to the source material.
Those actions place the Tumbler Ridge tragedy within a widening examination of how AI companies respond to alarming user activity and how information held by those companies should be handled after a public catastrophe. The separate proceedings may address different issues, but they share the same underlying concern: what happened on the platform before the shootings and what obligations followed.
For the privacy commissioner’s office, the immediate issue is access to records needed for its investigation. For OpenAI, the judicial review challenges the demand itself. Until the court process and the provincial investigation advance, the public record remains incomplete about the specific interactions at issue and the company’s policies in this case.
The legal challenge also keeps attention fixed on Tumbler Ridge, where the deaths of students and school staff continue to shape the province’s understanding of the tragedy. The privacy office’s statement provides no conclusion about the outcome of its probe, and no court ruling on OpenAI’s challenge was reported in the material available Friday.
