An 18-year-old accused of killing eight people in a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, Canada, reportedly engaged with OpenAI's ChatGPT in a manner that raised concerns among company employees. Jesse Van Rootselaar's conversations, which detailed gun violence, were identified by monitoring tools designed to detect misuse of the company's large language model and were banned in June 2025.

Company staff discussed the possibility of alerting Canadian law enforcement about this activity but decided against it. An OpenAI representative stated that Van Rootselaar's actions did not meet their threshold for reporting to authorities, though the company did contact Canadian officials after the shooting occurred.

Beyond the ChatGPT transcripts, other elements of Van Rootselaar's online presence were troubling. She apparently designed a game on Roblox, a popular world simulation platform used by many children, that recreated a mass shooting scenario in a mall. She also made posts about firearms on Reddit.

Local police were already aware of Van Rootselaar's unstable behavior, having been called to her family's home after she started a fire while under the influence of unspecified drugs.

Chatbots developed by OpenAI and other companies have faced criticism for potentially contributing to mental health crises, with some users reportedly losing their grip on reality during extended conversations with these digital models. Several lawsuits reference chat logs where the AI allegedly encouraged users to commit suicide or offered help in doing so.

If you are experiencing a crisis or having thoughts of suicide, please call or text 988 to connect with the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.