OpenAI CEO Sam Altman formally apologized to the community of Tumbler Ridge for the company’s failure to alert law enforcement about the account of the Tumbler Ridge shooter even after staff banned the shooter for being too problematic.

One aspect of the apology that rings undeniably true is Altman’s recognition that “words can never be enough.” What we need are actual guardrails that companies like OpenAI legally must adhere to, not more meaningless corporate PR talk that does little to protect users of products like OpenAI’s ChatGPT — and everyone else.

The company shared the full letter with local news outlet Tumbler RidgeLines, which reads in part, “I reaffirm the commitment I made to the Mayor and the Premier to find ways to prevent tragedies like this in the future,” Altman wrote.

It’s important to recognize what actually went wrong with OpenAI’s internal assessment that led the company to conclude law enforcement should not be contacted.

Recall what happened: over the course of several days, the shooter sent messages about gun violence to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which were flagged by OpenAI’s automated review system. OpenAI employees were alerted to the flagged account. We still don’t know what exactly was said, which is itself part of the problem. But we do know employees debated amongst themselves whether or not to report the account to law enforcement, based on the company’s internal policies. In the end, those who........

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