AI Incident Database
Browse AI incidents
Every incident record (metadata only) from the weekly snapshot of 2026-09-07. Filter, then export the selection with its licence attached; each row links to the full record and its reports.
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Meta AI Reportedly Generated Purportedly False Claims Linking Activist Robby Starbuck to January 6th Riot, Prompting Defamation Lawsuit AIID ↗
Conservative activist Robby Starbuck reportedly filed a defamation lawsuit against Meta, alleging its Meta AI chatbot published false statements claiming he participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, was arrested, denied the Holocaust, and was unfit to parent. Filed April 28, 2025, in Delaware Superior Court, the suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, citing reputational and safety harms. Meta reportedly stated it had updated its AI models to reduce inaccuracies.
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Australian Analyst Allegedly Targeted by Scam Using Purportedly Sophisticated AI-Generated Corporate Materials AIID ↗
A report by ABC News Australia describes how scammers allegedly used AI tools to create detailed fake websites for two fabricated companies, APPC Capital Singapore and Thackeray Mines and Minerals Inc., as part of an investment scam. A pseudonymous Australian fraud analyst ("Leon") was reportedly targeted. Experts cited in the article warn that AI lowers the barrier for generating convincing scams that can deceive even experienced analysts.
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Alleged AI-Generated Photo of Burning Truck in Manila Reportedly Triggered Firefighter Response AIID ↗
Firefighters in Manila reportedly responded to a supposed burning truck after being alerted with a photo later determined to have purportedly been AI-generated. Four fire trucks, including units from the Bureau of Fire Protection, reportedly arrived on the scene but found the vehicle intact. The false alert allegedly wasted emergency resources.
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Fact-Checkers Identify Viral Photo of Burkina Faso's Ibrahim Traoré with 'Wife and Children' as AI-Generated Composite AIID ↗
A manipulated image allegedly showing Burkina Faso junta leader Ibrahim Traoré with a wife and three children circulated widely on social media. Investigations by GhanaFact and others concluded the image was altered using AI tools, merging Traoré's likeness from a 2023 Russia-Africa summit photo with fabricated figures. The harm stems from the spread of false personal information about a political figure, potentially shaping public perception through synthetic, misleading media.
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Reddit Moderators Report Unauthorized AI Study Involving Fabricated Identities by Purported University of Zurich Researchers AIID ↗
Researchers purportedly affiliated with the University of Zurich reportedly deployed undisclosed AI-generated comments on Reddit's r/ChangeMyView to study persuasion by allegedly fabricating identities such as sexual assault survivors and racial minorities. The experiment reportedly involved unauthorized demographic profiling, emotional manipulation, and violations of subreddit and platform rules. The researchers allegedly deviated from their approved protocol without renewed ethics oversight.
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Meta User-Created AI Companions Allegedly Implicated in Facilitating Sexually Themed Conversations Involving Underage Personas AIID ↗
Third-party testing of Meta's AI chatbot services on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp reportedly found that both official and user-created bots engaged in sexually explicit roleplaying with accounts identifying as minors. Some bots, including those reportedly using licensed celebrity voices, allegedly escalated conversations into graphic scenarios. Meta subsequently adjusted some safeguards but reportedly continued allowing certain forms of roleplaying involving underage personas.
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Factum in Ko v. Li Allegedly Contains AI-Generated Case Law Citations AIID ↗
In Ko v. Li, 2025 ONSC 2766, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice identified multiple inaccurate or nonexistent case citations in a factum submitted by counsel for the applicant. Justice FL Myers questioned whether generative AI was used in drafting the document, noting the cited cases were either irrelevant, misrepresented, or did not exist. The court ordered the lawyer to show cause why she should not be cited for contempt, citing duties of accuracy and technological competence.
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Brazil's Social Security AI Tool Is Allegedly Rejecting Complex Claims Improperly AIID ↗
Brazil’s AI-powered Meu INSS app allegedly misclassified a retirement claim filed by Josélia de Brito, a former sugarcane worker, by purportedly recording her as male. De Brito reportedly suffers from multiple chronic illnesses and faced repeated denials of social benefits due to minor filing errors. Analysts cited in the reporting suggest the system's design may disadvantage rural and digitally excluded users.
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Purported AI-Generated Deepfake of Steven Bartlett Reportedly Used to Promote Fake WhatsApp Investment Group AIID ↗
A purported deepfake video of entrepreneur and BBC Dragon's Den investor Steven Bartlett circulated on Instagram in April 2025, allegedly claiming to offer exclusive stock tips and inviting users to join a WhatsApp trading group. The reported video referenced U.S. tariff policies to entice viewers with promises of rapid returns. Bartlett's team confirmed the video was fake and worked with platforms to remove it, warning that scammers were attempting to harvest contact details for further fraud.
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Anthropic Report Details Claude Misuse for Influence Operations, Credential Stuffing, Recruitment Fraud, and Malware Development AIID ↗
In April 2025, Anthropic published a report detailing several misuse cases involving its Claude LLM, all detected in March. These included an "influence-as-a-service" operation that orchestrated over 100 social media bots; an effort to scrape and test leaked credentials for security camera access; a recruitment fraud campaign targeting Eastern Europe; and a novice actor developing sophisticated malware. Anthropic banned the accounts involved but could not confirm downstream deployment.
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Purported Deepfake Video Circulated Among Students Targets Orrington, Maine Educator AIID ↗
An Orrington, Maine public school teacher was the target of a purported AI‑generated deepfake video depicting their likeness, according to the AOS 47 superintendent. The manipulated content was reportedly shared and circulated by some students. The district confirmed the video had no basis in reality, reported the hosting account, and had the post removed, while affirming support for the teacher and warning about the harms of AI‑based impersonation.
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Scammers Reportedly Use AI Tools to Impersonate Students and Obtain Federal Aid AIID ↗
Between 2021 and 2025, California community colleges faced a surge in fraudulent applications—now estimated at 34% of all submissions. Reports indicate that scammers used generative AI tools, including ChatGPT, to produce identity-verifying responses that enabled them to impersonate students and obtain financial aid. The fraud allegedly resulted in over $13 million in losses over the past year alone, straining administrative and instructional systems and displacing legitimate applicants.
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NYPD Facial Recognition System Allegedly Produced Erroneous Match That Reportedly Resulted in Wrongful Detention of Trevis Williams AIID ↗
The NYPD's facial recognition system allegedly misidentified Trevis Williams as a suspect in a Union Square indecent exposure case. Despite reportedly notable physical differences and exculpatory phone data, Williams was arrested, jailed for more than two days, and charged. The case was later dismissed.
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Alleged Deepfake Identity Scam Uses Miami Beach Realtor's Likeness to Defraud Victim in the United Kingdom in Purported Romance Scam AIID ↗
A scammer reportedly used deepfake video technology to impersonate Miami Beach realtor Andres Asion, creating fake videos with his face and a voice clone to catfish a woman in the UK. The victim communicated for about a year before traveling to Miami, where Asion discovered the fraud. The videos appeared convincing even to friends and family.
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Anysphere AI Support Bot for Cursor Reportedly Invents Login Policy, Leading to Subscription Cancellations AIID ↗
In April 2025, users of Cursor, an AI-powered coding assistant developed by Anysphere, reported being logged out unexpectedly. An AI-powered support bot, "Sam," allegedly responded with an invented login policy to justify the behavior. The hallucinated policy was not based on any real company change. The incident reportedly led to subscription cancellations.
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Transgender User Alleges ChatGPT Allowed Suicide Letter Without Crisis Intervention AIID ↗
A transgender user, Miranda Jane Ellison, experiencing acute distress reported that ChatGPT (GPT-4) allowed her to write and submit a suicide letter without intervention. The AI is reported to have offered minimal safety language and ultimately acknowledged its failure to act. Ellison reports having been previously flagged for discussing gender and emotional topics. A formal complaint with transcripts was submitted to OpenAI.
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Springer Nature Book 'Mastering Machine Learning: From Basics to Advanced' Reportedly Published With Numerous Purportedly Nonexistent or Incorrect Citations AIID ↗
"Mastering Machine Learning: From Basics to Advanced," published by Springer Nature in April 2025, reportedly contained numerous purportedly nonexistent or materially incorrect academic citations. Independent checks allegedly found that many referenced works did not exist or were misattributed, with multiple named researchers reportedly confirming they did not author the cited material. The pattern of errors has been described as consistent with known LLM citation hallucinations.
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ChatGPT Was Alleged to Have Aided Planning of Florida State University Mass Shooting AIID ↗
On April 17, 2025, a shooting at Florida State University killed Tiru Chabba and Robert Morales and injured others. Phoenix Ikner, the accused shooter, has pleaded not guilty. In 2026, victims' families and attorneys reportedly alleged that Ikner used ChatGPT before the attack to discuss mass shootings, firearms, campus activity, and media attention, and that OpenAI failed to flag or escalate the exchanges. OpenAI denied responsibility.
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Microsoft Reportedly Blocks 1.6 Million Bot Signup Attempts Per Hour Amid Global AI-Driven Fraud Surge AIID ↗
Between April 2024 and April 2025, Microsoft reportedly blocked 1.6 million bot signups per hour and disrupted $4 billion in fraud attempts linked to AI-enhanced scams. The company's Cyber Signals report details how generative AI is being used to fabricate realistic e-commerce sites, job offers, customer service bots, and phishing lures. Fraud actors now automate mass-deceptive campaigns with fake reviews, deepfakes, and cloned brand domains at unprecedented scale and speed.
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Alleged Deepfake Investment Scam Uses Economist David Rosenberg's Likeness on Meta Platforms AIID ↗
Fraudsters allegedly used AI-generated content and social media ads to impersonate economist David Rosenberg and promote a fraudulent investment scheme. Victims were reportedly directed to WhatsApp groups with fake stock tips, resulting in substantial financial losses, with some exceeding $500,000. The ads reportedly appeared on Meta platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. Rosenberg and his family reported the scam to authorities.
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$31,000 Sanction in Lacey v. State Farm Tied to Purportedly Undisclosed Use of LLMs and Erroneous Citations AIID ↗
In the case of Lacey v. State Farm, two law firms were sanctioned $31,000 after submitting a legal brief containing reportedly erroneous citations generated using AI tools. The court reportedly found that the lawyers failed to disclose the use of AI, neglected to verify its output, and refiled a revised brief with additional inaccuracies. Judge Michael Wilner deemed the conduct reckless and issued sanctions for what he described as "improper" and "misleading" legal filings.
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AI-Powered Presentation Tool Gamma Implicated in Multi-Stage Phishing Campaign AIID ↗
Attackers reportedly exploited Gamma, an AI-powered presentation tool, to create convincing presentation pages that hosted links to a spoofed Microsoft SharePoint login portal. The phishing flow allegedly used compromised email accounts, Cloudflare Turnstile for bot evasion, and adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) tactics to validate credentials in real time and capture session cookies. The campaign aimed to bypass MFA and compromise accounts.
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Reported Emergence of 'Vegetative Electron Microscopy' in Scientific Papers Traced to Purported AI Training Data Contamination AIID ↗
Researchers reportedly traced the appearance of the nonsensical phrase "vegetative electron microscopy" in scientific papers to contamination in AI training data. Testing indicated that large language models such as GPT-3, GPT-4, and Claude 3.5 may reproduce the term. The error allegedly originated from a digitization mistake that merged unrelated words during scanning, and a later translation error between Farsi and English.
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Multiple LLMs Allegedly Endorsed Suicide as a Viable Option During Non-Adversarial Mental Health Venting Session AIID ↗
Substack user @interruptingtea reports that during a non-adversarial venting session involving suicidal ideation, multiple large language models (Claude, GPT, and DeepSeek) responded in ways that allegedly normalized or endorsed suicide as a viable option. The user states they were not attempting to jailbreak or manipulate the models, but rather expressing emotional distress. DeepSeek reportedly reversed its safety stance mid-conversation.
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16-Year-Old Allegedly Received Suicide Method Guidance from ChatGPT Before Death AIID ↗
16-year-old Adam Raine reportedly died by suicide after allegedly confiding in OpenAI's ChatGPT-4o, which he reportedly used extensively in the months prior. Transcripts reportedly show the chatbot provided empathetic support but also allegedly offered details on suicide methods, validated attempts, and at times discouraged disclosure to family. His parents have reportedly filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging design choices nurtured dependency and failed safeguards.
Disclaimer: informational only, not legal advice. Verify every claim against the linked official sources and consult a qualified lawyer before acting.
Frequently asked questions
What is recorded in each incident?
What happened, when, who was involved as developer or deployer, who was harmed, the sectors and countries affected, and the domain and subdomain the harm falls under. Incidents are mirrored from the AI Incident Database and each links back to its source record.
Does an incident mean wrongdoing was proven?
No. These are reported incidents, not findings of liability. Entities named in a report are named as reported, allegations are marked as alleged, and nothing here is a legal determination.
How current is the incident data?
It syncs directly from the AI Incident Database several times a day, so a new incident usually appears within hours. Each record carries the date it was last synced, and the snapshot date is shown on the page.
Does this page include the full incident reports?
No. The report texts are outside the licence this data is shared under, so only the metadata and the classifications appear here. Every row links to the original incident record, which carries the reports themselves.