News of the Cyber World

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YOUR ID MIGHT HAVE BEEN EXPOSED

1 billion identity records exposed in ID verification data leak
More than 203 million US records were left exposed in the breach

Things like your name, home address, date of birth and even your Social Security number may have been sitting on the open internet. Researchers say an unprotected database tied to IDMerit, a company that claims to help businesses verify identities, exposed roughly 1 billion sensitive records across 26 countries.

In the United States alone, more than 203 million records were left unsecured. This involves the exact documents and details companies use to confirm you are really you. If criminals get that kind of information, they'd have everything they need.

What you need to know about the massive data leak

Researchers at Cybernews, a cybersecurity news and research publication, discovered an exposed MongoDB database on Nov. 11, 2025, that they believe belongs to IDMerit, a global identity verification provider that serves banks, fintech firms and other financial services companies. IDMerit uses artificial intelligence tools to help businesses perform KYC, short for Know Your Customer, which is the identity verification process required when you open financial accounts.

The database was not protected by a password. Anyone who knew where to look could access it. Inside were full names, home addresses, postal codes, dates of birth, national ID numbers, phone numbers, email addresses and gender information. Some records also included telecom-related metadata and internal flags that may have referenced past breaches.

The exposure affected people in 26 countries. The United States had the highest number of exposed records at more than 203 million. Mexico, the Philippines, Germany, Italy and France were also heavily impacted.

Researchers notified the company, and the database was secured the following day. There is currently no public evidence that criminals downloaded the data. Still, it's worth noting that automated bots constantly scan the internet for exposed databases and can copy them within minutes.

How it happened and why it matters for you

When you open a bank account, sign up for a crypto platform or verify your identity for a financial app, you are often asked to upload a government ID and provide personal details. Companies like IDMerit process that information behind the scenes. That means this database likely contained the same details you would use to prove your identity to a bank or government agency.

For criminals, that is gold. With your full name, date of birth, national ID and phone number, scammers can attempt SIM-swap attacks. This is when someone convinces your mobile carrier to transfer your phone number to their device. Once they control your number, they can intercept security codes sent by text message and break into your bank or email accounts. They can also launch highly targeted phishing scams. Imagine receiving a call or email that includes your real home address and ID number. It would feel legitimate, and that's exactly the point.

Because the data was neatly organized, criminals could sort it by country or other details and use automated tools to target huge numbers of people with scams.

DISNEY / STAR WARS / SPIDEY

Disney chief behind Star Wars games drops explosive suit against media giant: ‘Dug up dirt on me’

The Head of Disney’s Gaming Group responsible for iconic video games such as Spider-Man and Star Wars is suing The Walt Disney Company for $40 million over claims of discrimination, the Post has learned.

Jay Ong, a wealthy executive, claims the company caused him harm when they lowered his bonus and incentive award in dramatic court papers obtained by The Post.

The reduction came after Ong, who works at Disney’s Burbank headquarters, claims an HR exec had contacted his executive coach without his permission.

Ong alleged Natalia Strauch, HR VP of Disney Global Consumer Products, Game and Publishing, was trying to “dig up dirt” on him after she claimed he was a poor “cultural” fit for the company in a February 2025 meeting, according to the papers.

The 56-year-old gaming exec claims despite generating revenues of half a billion dollars his bonus was reduced to $325,000 in 2025 from $367,117 in 2024. His incentive bonus was also reduced from $770,000 to $620,000, according to the filing.

The filing states Ong’s base salary is $550,000, making his total compensation package well into the millions in both 2024 and 2025.

Ong claims he was told the bonus reduction was not based on his performance and told his performance was “exceptional” but he “nevertheless was getting a pay cut.”

The papers state: “[The] defendants retaliated against Ong by reducing his compensation to send a message, embarrass him, and force him out of the company despite acknowledging his stellar performance and his division’s record profitability.”

The filing went on to say “that such treatment is part of a broader pattern at Disney whereby those of Asian descent -the few which Disney designs to hire- are discriminated against.”

He’s seeking $40 million in damages.

According to Ong’s LinkedIn bio, he still works at Disney overseeing Marvel Games, Lucasfilm Games, Disney & Pixar Games.

It says he manages a global portfolio of some of the most iconic brands in gaming, “ranging from Spider-Man, Star Wars, and Alien vs Predator to Toy Story and Avatar.”

CALIFORNIAN FARMER VS TIKTOKERS

California farmer unleashes on ‘feral’ TikTokers after his famous tulip field was destroyed

A California farmer is blasting social media influencers he says wrecked his tulip fields while chasing viral photos — leaving thousands of flowers trampled and forcing the popular attraction to shut early.

John Bos, the owner of Dutch Hollow Farms in Modesto, said a flood of visitors descended on his Central Valley property after videos of the colorful tulip fields spread rapidly across TikTok.

The unexpected attention brought crowds far larger than the farm was prepared to handle — and Bos says many visitors treated the fields like a photo backdrop rather than a working farm.

“It went nuts on TikTok. We got overwhelming crowds. We kind of had a feeling it was gonna be busy, but we had no idea what was coming,” Bos told the Daily Mail.

“The amount of people that came out — they just kind of went feral out there,” he added.

Bos had planted roughly 250,000 tulips ahead of the spring picking season, expecting the usual steady flow of local visitors who come to stroll through the vibrant rows and pick flowers. Instead, the farm was swamped with thousands of people eager to snap photos for Instagram and TikTok.

At the peak of the chaos, about 4,000 people showed up in a single day, Bos said. Cars stretched for roughly half a mile outside the farm, and some visitors reportedly waited up to 90 minutes just to get inside.

Once inside the fields, however, Bos said some guests began pulling tulips straight out of the ground just to stage photos — only to toss the flowers aside afterward instead of purchasing them.

“They would take gorgeous pictures out there in the middle of the field and then proceed to dump 10 or 15 stems,” Bos told the outlet.

Videos circulating on TikTok show influencers posing with large bundles of tulips, sometimes with the bulbs and roots still attached — a sign the flowers had been yanked from the soil rather than carefully cut. One clip showing a bouquet of tulips covering a user’s face racked up more than 300,000 likes.

Many viewers in the comments blasted the trend, with some saying the social media craze likely led to the farm’s early closure.

The destruction left Bos furious and forced him to take to social media to address the situation just a day after the picking season began.

“I absolutely hate the fact that after one day I need to post this. But when my picking crew tells me what a mess it is in the field. I will address it,” he wrote online, according to the Daily Mail.

UBER CO-FOUNDER VS CALIFORNIA

Billionaire Uber co-founder reveals he’s joined exodus from California

Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick says he has traded California for Texas, joining a growing list of billionaires abandoning the state as lefty lawmakers push for a one-off tax on their wealth.

Appearing on TPBN to discuss his robotics startup Atoms, Kalanick told hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays he relocated to Austin at the end of 2025.

“Just to be clear, on December 18, I moved to Texas. I don’t know what’s so specific about December 18, but let’s just say it’s prior to January,” said Kalanick, pointedly.

California lawmakers and activists are pushing a proposed 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, which could appear on the state’s November 2026 ballot.

The measure would impose a one-time 5% tax on fortunes exceeding $1 billion and would apply to people who were California residents as of January 1, 2026,

That means the 49-year-old’s estimated $3.6 billion fortune will not be subjected to the tax should it be introduced.

Kalanick joked he felt a twinge of FOMO when he hears about other wealthy Americans relocating to Florida.

“Why so much Florida action?! Like, come on homies,” he said.

Those ”homies” would be billionaire tech figures to leave California for Florida., including Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, PayPal and Palantir investor Peter Thiel, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg.

While California still boasts the largest billionaire population in the United States, an increasing number have relocated to places such as Reno, Austin and Miami.

Kalanick also reflected on the turmoil surrounding his departure from Uber in 2017, which came after a number of scandals, workplace culture issues and pressure from investors.

He was also dealing with the tragedy of a boating accident that killed his mother and left his father seriously injured.

“I had been torn away from an idea and a movement that I had poured my life into. I had lost my bearings as I found the world increasingly operating by the rules of perception, not reality,” he wrote on the Atoms website.

Atoms — previously known as City Storage Systems — is an industrial robotics company that automates tasks in sectors including food service, mining and transportation using physical AI robots described as “gainfully employed.”

“I bled, but I did not perish. I got back up and fought my way back into the arena, back to my calling. Back to building,” Kalanick wrote.

VALVE & STEAM

Valve says New York Attorney General's violent videogame fearmongering is 'a distraction and a mischaracterization we’ve all heard before'

The New York AG seems to be trying to stir up fears about violent videogames as the state pursues legal action against Valve, but Valve isn't having it.

One of the really interesting things that leapt out at me about Valve's response to New York's lawsuit against it wasn't really about the lawsuit at all, but about comments made by the state about the negative impact of violent videogames—the sort of thing that sounds like it was ripped straight from the headlines of 20 years ago.

New York's lawsuit accuses Valve of violating its gambling laws through loot boxes, which it claims "enable gambling by enticing users to pay for the chance to win a rare virtual item of significant monetary value." It further alleges that "Valve has made billions of dollars luring its users, many of whom are teenagers or younger, to engage in gambling in the hopes of winning expensive virtual items that they can cash in on," and says the lawsuit "seeks to permanently stop Valve from continuing to promote illegal gambling in its games and to pay disgorgement and fines."

Valve, a video game developer, has made billions of dollars by letting children and adults illegally gamble for the chance to win valuable virtual prizes.  These features are addictive and harmful. That's why I'm suing to stop Valve’s unlawful conduct and protect New Yorkers.

— @newyorkstateag.bsky.social (@newyorkstateag.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-03-12T04:32:17.528Z

That's all straightforward enough, at least as far as the crux of the claim goes. But the press release announcing the lawsuit then went on to say, completely out of nowhere, "although this case is about illegal gambling, it is important to note that Valve’s promotion of games that glorify violence and guns helps fuel the dangerous epidemic of gun violence, particularly among young gamers who can become numbed to grave violence before their brains are fully developed."

The statement is utterly irrelevant to the matter at hand—gambling, remember—but more to the point, it's also entirely unsupported. It's the sort of claim that used to be trotted out by Jack Thompson, a former attorney who was permanently disbarred in 2008, who gained notoriety among gamers for his relentless, borderline fanatical criticism of violence in videogames.

It's a topic that still comes up now and then—as recently as September 2025, the US government said it was "looking at" the connection between videogames and gun violence—but by and large the moral panic has subsided, as both repeated studies and real-world experience have failed to demonstrate any connection between entertainment and behavior.

That's what really makes New York's aside about violent videogames perplexing, and Valve seized on that point too.

"In addition, although this case is about mystery boxes, we feel the need to address comments made by the NYAG about games, real world violence, and children," Valve wrote. "Those extraneous comments are a distraction and a mischaracterization we’ve all heard before. Numerous studies throughout the years have concluded there is no link between media (movies, TV, books, comics, music, and games) and real world violence. Indeed, many studies highlight the beneficial impact of games to users."

Notorious UK rights group launches legal action against Valve for distributing music in games on Steam without a license

The Performing Right Society says a license to use music in a game does not constitute the right to distribute that music, via the game, to the public.

Valve is facing a new legal headache in the UK, and this one is definitely not like the others. The Performing Right Society, a rights management organization that collects royalties on behalf of musicians when their work is played publicly, has launched legal action against Valve over its use of PRS members' music on Steam without permission.

The PRS says that many of the games available on Steam feature music made by its members, and that by making those musical works available to the public via streaming or download, "Valve is communicating these works to the public without a licence."

"Our members create music that enhances experiences and PRS exists to protect the value of their work with integrity, transparency, and fairness," PRS for Music chief commercial officer Dan Gopal said.

"Legal proceedings are not a step we take lightly, but when a business’s actions undermine those principles, we have a duty to act. Great videogames rely on great soundtracks, and the songwriters and creators behind them deserve to have their contribution recognised and fairly valued."

I initially assumed that this lawsuit was specifically about game soundtracks on Steam, which struck me as odd because surely no major game publisher would release an official soundtrack without the proper licenses in place. But a PRS spokesperson clarified that the action is related to any music, in games as well as soundtracks, that Valve hasn't separately licensed for distribution.

So, for instance, Rockstar will have obtained licenses to use PRS members' music in Grand Theft Auto games, but the PRS says those licenses do not allow for the separate act of making the game, which contains the music, available online.

"Copyright law gives rights holders control over certain acts, including copying, public performance, broadcast, and making available online," the spokesperson explained to me. "When someone wishes to use a copyright work like music in this way, permission from the rights holders is required, which is normally done via a licence. PRS represents songwriters, composers and music publishers, and licenses these uses of their musical works.

"In this case the relevant act which has not been authorised is the making available of the music online. The composer or publisher of the music may have cleared the rights for the work to be used by the developer in the relevant game, but there is a separate act carried out by the platform operator when the game (or its soundtrack) is made available to consumers for streaming or download .

"Valve operates the Steam store and is responsible for the downloads and streaming delivered to customers via its platform. Valve therefore plays an essential role in giving the public access to that music."

It all seems very odd to me, and a real reach too, although I readily acknowledge that I'm not familiar with the intricacies of UK copyright law and licensing requirements. The PRS does have a history of aggressive behavior with this sort of thing, though. In 2007, for instance, it took an auto repair shop in Scotland to court because its employees were listening to radios at work, which the PRS said constituted public performances of music. In 2009 it went after a woman who played classical music to help soothe her horses; that same year, it told a woman working at a grocery store that she wasn't allowed to sing while she stocked shelves unless she obtained a public performance license. In that case, at least, the backlash was so furious that the group withdrew the demand and apologized.

TOMB RAIDER

The remastered collection of the first Tomb Raider games just got a controversial patch with some truly terrible-looking new outfits: 'Lara deserves better than this'

Players have taken to social media to share their disappointment.
It's rare that a game as old as the venerable Tomb Raider gets an update, and you'd think it'd be cause for celebration. Not necessarily so with the newest patch that came to Tomb Raider I-III Remastered last Thursday, which came bearing a new challenge mode and 10 new outfits that, well, just have a look for yourself:

As fans and customers we can't accept this level of quality from r/TombRaider
They're certainly rough around the edges, and the user reviews on Steam have not taken kindly to the free update. A review from Steam user Engram reads, "The new update broke the audio, broke a ton of visuals, broke the enemy AI, added what appears to be low-quality AI slop into the game and deleted all of my saves." Another post from user Harry DuN'wah, who has nearly 200 hours sunk into the remaster, states "Keep AI out of Tomb Raider, Lara deserves better than this."

I can't strictly confirm if generative AI was used in the creation of the new assets, but PC Gamer has reached out for comment. Giovanni Lucca, the original lead artist on the remaster, posted about the update on X, saying "I was not involved in the art direction of this new patch with the Challenge Mode for Tomb Raider I-II-III Remastered. None of the original developers at Saber was involved in it."
Two days later, he reposted a video showing the new outfits (which called the patch a "monstrosity") with a clown emoji. That said, some of Lucca's other posts just below those two are spent lamenting "activists and their woke shit," so maybe take his particular brand of outrage with a grain of salt.

Still, it's clear the patch is turning heads for all the wrong reasons. Concerns over AI usage are not new for Aspyr's Tomb Raider remasters, as just last September a slew of "unauthorized" AI voice lines had to be patched out.

FACIAL RECOGNITION

The Dark Side of AI: Innocent Grandmother Wrongfully Jailed for 6 Months After Facial Recognition Error

A Tennessee grandmother spent nearly six months behind bars in North Dakota, a state she had never even stepped foot in, after being wrongfully identified by AI facial recognition technology in a bank fraud investigation.

The Grand Forks Herald reports that Angela Lipps, a 50-year-old mother of three and grandmother of five from Tennessee, found herself trapped in a nightmare that began last July when U.S. Marshals arrested her at gunpoint while she was babysitting four young children. Fargo police had used facial recognition software to identify her as the primary suspect in an organized bank fraud case, despite the fact that she had never set foot in North Dakota.

The case began in April and May 2025 when Fargo Police Department detectives investigated several bank fraud incidents. Surveillance footage captured a woman using a fraudulent U.S. Army military identification card to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars from local banks. To identify the suspect, investigators employed facial recognition software, which incorrectly matched the woman in the videos to Lipps.

According to court documents obtained through an open records request, the detective assigned to the case reviewed Lipps’ social media accounts and Tennessee driver’s license photo after receiving the facial recognition match. In the charging document, the detective stated that Lipps appeared to be the suspect based on facial features, body type, hairstyle, and hair color. Notably, no one from the Fargo Police Department contacted Lipps to question her before filing charges.

Lipps was arrested on July 14 and booked into her county jail in Tennessee as a fugitive from justice. She faced four counts of unauthorized use of personal identifying information and four counts of theft in North Dakota. Held without bail due to her fugitive status, Lipps spent 108 days in the Tennessee jail before North Dakota officers transported her to Fargo on October 30.

“It was so scary, I can still see it in my head, over and over again,” Lipps said during an interview about her ordeal.

Throughout her detention, Lipps maintained her innocence, telling anyone who would listen that she had never been to North Dakota and knew no one from the state. Her claims were supported by the fact that she had never flown on an airplane in her entire life, and her travels had been limited to states neighboring Tennessee.

Jay Greenwood, the attorney representing Lipps in North Dakota, immediately requested her bank records upon taking the case. “If the only thing you have is facial recognition, I might want to dig a little deeper,” Greenwood said.

The bank records proved conclusive. They showed that Lipps was in Tennessee, more than 1,200 miles away, during the times police claimed she was committing fraud in Fargo. The records documented routine transactions including Social Security check deposits, cigarette purchases at gas stations, pizza purchases, and Uber Eats orders through a cash app.

Fargo police finally interviewed Lipps for the first time on December 19, meeting with her and Greenwood at the Cass County jail. By that point, she had already spent more than five months incarcerated. Five days later, on Christmas Eve, prosecutors dismissed the case and released Lipps from custody.

However, her ordeal was far from over. Released in clothing inadequate for North Dakota’s freezing temperatures, Lipps found herself stranded more than a thousand miles from home with no means to return. “I had my summer clothes on, no coat, it was so cold outside, snow on the ground, scared, I wanted out but I didn’t know what I was going to do, how I was going to get home,” Lipps recalled.

Fargo police did not provide any financial assistance for her return journey. Local defense attorneys stepped in to help, providing money for a hotel room and food on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The day after Christmas, Adam Martin, founder of the Fargo-based F5 Project, an organization that provides services to individuals struggling with incarceration, mental health, and addiction, drove Lipps to Chicago so she could make her way back to Tennessee.

When asked about the case at his retirement news conference on March 11, Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski declined to answer questions. After a week of attempts to arrange an on-camera interview were rebuffed, a reporter asked, “Why did nobody from Fargo Police ever speak with Angela Lipps for the five months she was in jail?” Zibolski responded, “Thank you, Matt, for that question but we are not here to talk about that today.”

The consequences of her wrongful detention have been devastating for Lipps. Unable to pay her bills while incarcerated, she lost her home, her car, and even her dog. She reports that no one from the Fargo Police Department has apologized for the misidentification and subsequent months of wrongful imprisonment.

“I’m just glad it’s over. I’ll never go back to North Dakota,” Lipps said.

The Fargo Police Department stated that the bank fraud investigation remains active and no arrests have been made in the case.

TESLA CYBERTRUCK FIXATED ON A TEXAS OVERPASS?

Lawsuit: Tesla Cybertruck in ‘Full Self-Driving’ Mode Attempted to Drive over the Side of a Texas Overpass

A Houston resident has filed a lawsuit against Tesla after her Cybertruck allegedly attempted to drive off an overpass while using Elon Musk’s “Full self driving” feature, resulting in serious injuries.

The Houston Chronicle reports that Justine Saint Amour has filed a lawsuit in Harris County Court against Tesla, claiming the EV giant was negligent in marketing its “self-driving” feature. The incident occurred in August 2025 on the 69 Eastex Freeway in North Houston, where Saint Amour was driving her Cybertruck with Tesla’s full self-driving mode engaged.

According to the lawsuit, Saint Amour was approaching the Houston Metro 256 Eastex Park & Ride when the vehicle encountered a Y-shaped portion of the freeway. Rather than following the right curve of the road as expected, the Cybertruck attempted to drive straight ahead toward a concrete barrier and a terrifying drop to the freeway below. The lawsuit states that the vehicle’s decision occurred suddenly and without warning.

Saint Amour attempted to disengage the self-driving feature and correct the vehicle’s course, but had insufficient time to react. The Cybertruck crashed into the concrete barrier, causing what the lawsuit describes as substantial injuries. According to a statement from her legal representation at Hilliard Law, Saint Amour was diagnosed with two herniated discs in her lower back and one herniated disc in her neck. She also sustained sprained tendons in her wrist and developed neuropathy that caused numbness, tingling, and weakness in her right hand.

Dashcam footage from the incident, provided by Saint Amour’s attorneys and reviewed by the Chronicle, shows the Cybertruck traveling up a ramp before reaching a fork in the road. The vehicle manages to navigate past a divider and begins attempting to turn into the curve of the interchange, but instead drives directly into the sidewall. The truck then spins out, the hood flies open, and pieces of the vehicle’s body can be seen separating from the truck.

Saint Amour is seeking more than one million dollars in damages from Tesla, accusing the company of negligence. The lawsuit centers on Elon Musk’s Full Self-Driving feature, which has faced scrutiny from California regulators who allege the company engaged in misleading advertising. Saint Amour purchased her Cybertruck at a used car dealership in Florida in February 2025, and the vehicle came equipped with the optional Full Self-Driving package that customers can purchase at checkout.

HONDA'S EVS

Electric Dreams Are Fading: Honda Cancels 3 EVs Intended for U.S. Market

Honda has announced the cancellation of three electric vehicles that were slated for U.S. production, marking a significant shift in the automaker’s EV strategy.

Car and Driver reports that Honda is abandoning plans to develop and sell three EVs in the United States, including the 0-Series SUV, 0-Series Saloon, and the Acura RSX. The Japanese automaker cited an unpredictable regulatory environment surrounding electric vehicle incentives and fossil fuel regulations as primary reasons for the decision.

The three canceled models were all planned for production at Honda’s manufacturing facility in Ohio, which has undergone extensive retooling over the past two years in preparation for electric vehicle assembly. The cancellation represents a dramatic reversal of Honda’s previously announced electrification plans for the North American market.

In its official announcement, Honda was notably direct about the factors influencing its decision. The company pointed to the volatile policy environment in the United States, particularly regarding EV incentives and fossil fuel regulations, as creating an untenable business case for the vehicles. Honda stated that it expected to incur further financial losses over the long term if it proceeded with launching the three electric models.

As Breitbart News reported in September, EV makers were in a panic attempting to find loopholes for customers to use the tax credits cut off by the Trump administration, a sign that carmakers do not believe that EVs can sell on their own merits without a government handout to sweeten the deal.

The automaker also addressed challenges in the Chinese market, where it noted that customer preferences have shifted significantly. According to Honda, Chinese consumers are now prioritizing software features over traditional automotive attributes such as fuel efficiency and cabin space. In a remarkably candid assessment, Honda acknowledged that it was unable to deliver products offering better value than those from newer Chinese manufacturers.

AI

Lawsuit: OpenAI Failed to Notify Canadian Authorities About Teen’s Violent Threats Before School Shooting

The mother of a critically injured survivor from the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the AI giant behind ChatGPT, alleging the company failed to notify law enforcement about threats identified in the shooter’s discussions with its chatbot.

Vancouver Sun reports that a civil lawsuit has been filed in British Columbia Supreme Court against OpenAI and its ChatGPT platform on behalf of Cia Edmonds and her two daughters, including 12-year-old Maya Gebala, who survived the February 2026 mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. The lawsuit alleges that the technology company had advance warning of the shooter’s intentions but failed to alert Canadian authorities.

According to the court documents, shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar, who was 17 years old at the time, opened a ChatGPT account during the summer of 2025. The lawsuit claims that Van Rootselaar described various scenarios involving gun violence over the course of several days through interactions with the AI platform.

The legal filing alleges that 12 monitoring staff members at ChatGPT identified Van Rootselaar’s inquiries as indicating an imminent risk of serious harm to others. These employees reportedly recommended that Canadian law enforcement be notified of the concerning activity and escalated the matter to company leadership. However, the lawsuit claims that company executives subsequently rebuffed their employees’ request to contact authorities.

Instead of alerting police, the company allegedly closed Van Rootselaar’s account. The lawsuit states that Van Rootselaar then opened a second account and continued using the platform. The shooter used their second account to continue planning scenarios involving gun violence, including a mass casualty event like the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting, with ChatGPT and to receive mental health counselling and pseudo-therapy from ChatGPT, according to the legal claim.

On February 10, 2026, Van Rootselaar killed his mother and half-brother in their Tumbler Ridge home before walking to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. At the school, the shooter killed five students and one teacher before taking his own life. Maya Gebala was among those shot during the attack and suffered horrific injuries.

Maya remains hospitalized with a catastrophic brain injury and right-side paralysis. She was attempting to lock a door when she was shot during the attack. Her younger sister Dahlia is also named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

The allegations outlined in the lawsuit regarding Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT accounts were first reported by the Wall Street Journal in February. The report brought international attention to questions about the responsibilities of artificial intelligence companies in monitoring and reporting potentially dangerous user activity.

Following the public disclosure of these allegations, OpenAI founder and billionaire Sam Altman held meetings with Canadian government officials. On March 4, Altman met with Federal AI Minister Evan Solomon and reportedly agreed to implement a number of safety changes to the platform’s monitoring and reporting procedures.

The next day, on March 5, Altman met with British Columbia Premier David Eby. According to Premier Eby’s account of the meeting, Altman promised to issue an apology to the victims of the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting. However, as of March 9, no such apology had been made public by OpenAI or its leadership.

The legal firm representing Edmonds and her daughters issued a statement explaining the broader objectives of the lawsuit beyond financial compensation. The statement noted that a planned coroner’s inquest into the mass shooting would likely involve detailed analysis of Van Rootselaar’s medical and schooling records, as well as a forensic examination of his electronic devices.

OpenAI Partners with Building Trades Unions to Support AI Infrastructure Expansion

Sam Altman’s OpenAI announced a partnership with North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) on Wednesday as the AI company accelerates its data center construction efforts across the United States.

Axios reports that the collaboration between OpenAI and the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) marks a strategic move by the AI company to secure the skilled workforce necessary for its ambitious infrastructure plans. The partnership aims to ensure that AI infrastructure projects create union jobs, expand apprenticeship programs, and generate local economic opportunities.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed the partnership during his appearance at BlackRock’s infrastructure summit on Wednesday, where he discussed the compute and energy infrastructure requirements facing the AI industry. Altman made the announcement alongside NABTU president Sean McGarvey, highlighting the importance of organized labor in the company’s expansion strategy.

According to Chris Lehane, OpenAI chief global affairs officer, the company faces significant workforce challenges as it pursues its infrastructure goals. “To reach 10 gigawatts of compute by 2030, OpenAI will need 20% more tradespeople than exist today,” Lehane stated. He emphasized the urgency of developing this workforce, adding, “It’s imperative for us to have this workforce to be able to continue to build out at the speed and pace that we need to build out, particularly with the global competition with China.”

As part of the agreement, OpenAI has committed $1.5 million over five years to support NABTU’s training and recruitment programs. This financial commitment represents the company’s investment in developing the skilled trades workforce needed to construct and maintain the extensive data center infrastructure required for advanced AI operations.

This partnership represents the second time OpenAI has formally allied with a labor union. Last summer, the company established the National Academy for AI Instruction in collaboration with the American Federation of Teachers, demonstrating an ongoing pattern of engagement with organized labor organizations.

Anthropic Donors Gave 99.8 Percent of $200M to Democrats While CEO Calls Trump ‘Feudal Warlord’

Anthropic’s political orbit has directed more than $200 million in campaign money since the 2020 election cycle, with nearly all of it backing Democrats, while cofounder and CEO Dario Amodei has built a public record of opposition to President Donald Trump that has become part of the broader clash between the artificial intelligence company and the administration.

Starting with the 2020 presidential election cycle, Anthropic’s founders, board members, and employees have contributed more than $200 million to political campaigns and causes. Only about $335,000 of that total went to Republicans — roughly 0.16 percent — and none went to Donald Trump. The remaining 99.8 percent went to Democrats, with the largest recipients including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Hillary Clinton.

The donation breakdown for the company and its associates highlights the political divide. Anthropic employees have donated a total of $998,000 to candidates since the 2020 election cycle, with approximately $820,000, or 82 percent, going to Democrats. Early Anthropic investor Dustin Moskovitz has donated a total of $110 million since 2020, including $2.3 million to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and more than $103 million to Kamala Harris’s efforts. Amodei has donated $103,600 to Democrats since the 2020 election, with nearly all of it going to Biden or Harris. Anthropic board member Reed Hastings has donated $20 million to Democrats, including $7 million to a pro-Harris super PAC.

That political profile has run alongside Amodei’s repeated public denunciations of Trump. In 2018, Amodei described Trump as a “serious and legitimate threat to the rule of law” and urged Americans to “vote against this clown.” Ahead of the 2024 election, in a Facebook post later deleted, he went further, calling Trump a “feudal warlord” who uses power for personal gain rather than the national benefit and urging support for Harris.

After Trump’s election, Amodei was also absent from White House tech events attended by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, and Google’s Sundar Pichai.

In October 2025, cofounder and Head of Policy Jack Clark published an essay titled “Technological Optimism and Appropriate Fear,” contending that AI systems were advancing rapidly and that denial of the risks was dangerous. “I am both an optimist about the pace at which the technology will develop, and also about our ability to align it and get it to work with us and for us,” Clark wrote. “But success isn’t certain.”

David Sacks, serving as Trump’s AI and crypto czar, replied on X by accusing Anthropic of “running a sophisticated regulatory capture strategy based on fear-mongering” and said the company was “principally responsible for the state regulatory frenzy that is damaging the startup ecosystem.”

In a later post, Sacks claimed Anthropic was trying to “backdoor Woke AI and other AI regulations through Blue states like California.” Amodei expressed that he wanted to correct “inaccurate claims” about Anthropic’s positions. “I fully believe that Anthropic, the administration, and leaders across the political spectrum want the same thing,” he stated, adding, “When we agree, we say so. When we don’t, we propose an alternative for consideration.”

Anthropic’s political posture later collided with the Trump administration during a dispute over military use of the company’s artificial intelligence systems. The company refused Pentagon demands that its models be made available for all lawful uses without restriction, instead insisting on safeguards preventing deployment in fully autonomous weapons systems or mass domestic surveillance of Americans. The standoff escalated after President Donald Trump directed federal agencies to “IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of” Anthropic technology and labeled the firm a “RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY.”

A roughly 1,600-word internal Slack message Amodei sent to approximately 2,000 employees on February 27, 2026, addressed what he described as political motivations behind the administration’s stance toward Anthropic. In the message, Amodei remarked, “The real reasons DoW [Department of War] and the Trump admin do not like us is that we haven’t donated to Trump (while OpenAI/Greg have donated a lot). We haven’t given dictator-style praise to Trump (while Sam has).”

On March 4, 2026, the Pentagon formally designated Anthropic a “Supply-Chain Risk to National Security,” a label historically reserved for foreign adversaries and the first time it had been publicly applied to an American company.

The company has also faced backlash from prominent figures in the artificial intelligence and technology sectors. On February 15, Elon Musk attacked Anthropic after the company announced a $30 billion funding round that valued the firm at $380 billion. Musk called the company’s AI “misanthropic and evil,” writing on X, “Your AI hates Whites & Asians, especially Chinese, heterosexuals and men. This is misanthropic and evil. Fix it.”

Palantir CEO Alex Karp: ‘Uniquely American’ Approach to AI Provides Strategic Advantage in Iran Conflict

Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp stated that “uniquely American” AI is providing the United States and its allies with a significant advantage in the escalating conflict in Iran and throughout the Middle East region.

CNBC reports that speaking at Palantir’s AIPCon 9 conference in Maryland on Thursday, CEO Alex Karp discussed his company’s role in modern warfare and the strategic importance of AI technology in current Middle East operations. Karp emphasized that American technological capabilities, particularly in AI, represent a unique advantage in global conflicts.

“What makes America special right now is our lethal capabilities, our ability to fight war,” Karp said during the event. He added that another major advantage is that “the AI revolution is uniquely American.”

The CEO indicated that Palantir’s technology is being utilized to coordinate combat data between the United States and Middle East partners who have been targeted by Iranian airstrikes. According to Karp, the company’s platform serves a critical coordinating function that no other product can match for security purposes.

“If you were attacked and you needed to coordinate, you would have to have a coordinating function. There’s only one product that can actually do that for security,” Karp stated, referencing Palantir’s platform.

Palantir’s Project Maven represents a real-time AI surveillance capability that utilizes satellite imagery. According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, the platform was employed alongside Anthropic’s Claude artificial intelligence in the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

When asked whether Project Maven played a role in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a joint United States-Israel military operation two weeks prior, Karp declined to provide specific confirmation. However, he acknowledged awareness of reports suggesting Palantir’s involvement in Middle East operations.

“I have read that Palantir’s Project Maven is the core backbone of that,” he said, speaking generally about U.S. involvement in the Middle East. “And then I’ve also read that all the allies, Arab and non-Arab in the Middle East, may or may not be users of our platform as well, and that’s expanding rapidly.”