{"attribution":{"source":"AI Incident Database (Responsible AI Collaborative)","license":"CC BY-SA 4.0","license_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","citation":"McGregor, S. (2021). Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents: The AI Incident Database. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IAAI-21).","snapshot_date":"2026-09-07"},"exported_at":"2026-09-11"}
{"rows":[{"incident_id":1415,"occurred_on":"2026-03-04","title":"Nippon Life Alleged ChatGPT Practiced Law Without a License in Illinois Disability Case","description":"Nippon Life sued OpenAI in Chicago, alleging ChatGPT acted as an unlicensed lawyer by helping a former disability claimant reopen a settled case and generate numerous meritless filings. The insurer claimed the conduct caused legal expense and abuse-of-process harms. OpenAI said the complaint lacks merit.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Governance failure","entity":"AI","intent":"Unintentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Openai"],"developers":["Openai"],"harmed":["Nippon Life Insurance Company Of America, Litigants In Nippon Life Disability Litigation, Graciela Dela Torre"],"report_count":2},{"incident_id":1377,"occurred_on":"2026-02-13","title":"Seedance 2.0 Reportedly Generated Viral Tom Cruise–Brad Pitt Fight Video, Prompting Hollywood IP and Likeness Complaints","description":"A filmmaker reportedly used ByteDance's AI video tool Seedance 2.0 to create and post a purportedly realistic clip depicting Tom Cruise fighting Brad Pitt, which then circulated widely online. Industry groups and studios publicly alleged the tool enables unauthorized use of copyrighted material and performers' likeness, and at least one studio reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter. ByteDance said it respects IP and would strengthen safeguards.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Economic and cultural devaluation of human effort","entity":"AI","intent":"Unintentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Bytedance, Ruairi Robinson"],"developers":["Bytedance"],"harmed":["Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Actors, Film Industry, Epistemic Integrity"],"report_count":3},{"incident_id":1375,"occurred_on":"2026-02-10","title":"OpenAI Allegedly Did Not Alert RCMP After ChatGPT Flagged Violent Chats Before British Columbia School Shooting","description":"After the 02/10/2026 school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, OpenAI said a user later identified as the suspect, Jesse Van Rootselaar, had previously used ChatGPT to describe scenarios involving gun violence. Those chats were reportedly auto-flagged and reviewed and the account was banned, but OpenAI says it did not alert the RCMP because it allegedly did not present a credible, imminent threat; the company reportedly contacted police after the attack.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Governance failure","entity":"Human","intent":"Other","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["OpenAI"],"developers":["OpenAI","Large language model developers","Chatbot developers"],"harmed":["Tumbler Ridge Secondary School community","Teachers","Students","Minors","High school students","Educational communities"],"report_count":44},{"incident_id":1294,"occurred_on":"2025-12-05","title":"The New York Times Sued Perplexity for Allegedly Using Copyrighted Content and Generating False Attributions","description":"On December 5, 2025, The New York Times sued Perplexity, alleging the company used copyrighted Times articles without permission to train its AI system and generated outputs that reproduced Times content or falsely attributed fabricated information to the newspaper. The suit claims the conduct harmed the Times's business and brand. Perplexity denies wrongdoing.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Economic and cultural devaluation of human effort","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Perplexity Ai"],"developers":["Perplexity Ai"],"harmed":["Writers, The New York Times, Publishers, Journalistic Integrity, Epistemic Integrity"],"report_count":6},{"incident_id":1282,"occurred_on":"2025-11-17","title":"Reported Disqualification of Two Books from the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards Due to Alleged AI-Generated Cover Art","description":"Organizers of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards reportedly disqualified two fiction books after it was reportedly determined their cover illustrations were produced using AI-assisted tools, rendering the works ineligible under newly introduced award criteria. The publisher reportedly confirmed AI involvement in the jacket designs. The authors were not implicated in the artwork decisions but were nonetheless removed from consideration for the 2026 running.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Economic and cultural devaluation of human effort","entity":"Human","intent":"Unintentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Sugarcube Studios"],"developers":["Image Generation Technology Developers"],"harmed":["Elizabeth Smither, Stephanie Johnson, Quentin Wilson Publishing, Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, Epistemic Integrity"],"report_count":6},{"incident_id":1001,"occurred_on":"2025-03-17","title":"LLM Scrapers Allegedly Target Multiple Open Source Projects Disrupting the FOSS Ecosystem","description":"In mid-March 2025, KDE's GitLab infrastructure was reportedly disrupted by aggressive AI web scrapers originating from Alibaba IP ranges. These bots allegedly ignored robots.txt and spoofed browser headers, which in turn purportedly overwhelmed the site and caused outages for developers. Similar incidents reportedly affected other FOSS projects like GNOME, SourceHut, and Fedora. The scraping is allegedly tied to large language model training, and reportedly imposes real costs and delays.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Power centralization and unfair distribution of benefits","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Alibaba, Generative Ai Developers"],"developers":["Alibaba, Generative Ai Developers"],"harmed":["Sysadmins, Sourcehut, Read The Docs, Linux Weekly News, Kde, Inkscape, Gnome, Foss Projects And Communities, Fedora, Diaspora, Curl"],"report_count":2},{"incident_id":833,"occurred_on":"2024-10-21","title":"Polish Radio Station Replaces Human Hosts with AI-Generated Presenters to Simulate Interviewing Deceased Poet Wisława Szymborska","description":"Polish radio station Off Radio Krakow replaced human presenters with AI-generated ones and aired a simulated interview with the deceased poet Wisława Szymborska. The AI-driven experiment aimed to attract younger listeners but led to job losses for former hosts. In response to the public backlash, the station ended its use of AI presenters.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Increased inequality and decline in employment quality","entity":"Human","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Off Radio Krakow, Mariusz Marcin Pulit"],"developers":["Openai, Elevenlabs, Leonardo Ai"],"harmed":["Lukasz Zaleski, Mateusz Demski, Wislawa Szymborska, Off Radio Krakow Audience, Off Radio Krakow Employees"],"report_count":2},{"incident_id":1144,"occurred_on":"2024-06-05","title":"xAI Allegedly Operates Unpermitted Methane Turbines in Memphis to Power Supercomputer Colossus to Train Grok","description":"The xAI \"Colossus\" supercomputer facility in South Memphis allegedly runs 33 methane-powered turbines, despite a permit for only 15. The turbines reportedly power AI training for Grok. The facility's massive energy use and alleged unpermitted turbines reportedly produce extreme nitrogen oxide and formaldehyde emissions, adding toxic smog to a predominantly Black neighborhood already burdened by pollution and health risks.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Environmental harm","entity":"Human","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Xai"],"developers":["Xai"],"harmed":["South Memphis Community, Residents With Pre Existing Health Conditions, Residents Living In The Vicinity Of The Colossus Supercomputer, Predominantly Black Communities, General Public Of Memphis"],"report_count":9},{"incident_id":627,"occurred_on":"2024-01-09","title":"Unauthorized AI Impersonation of George Carlin Used in Comedy Special","description":"An AI-generated comedy special impersonating the late comedian George Carlin was created without consent from Carlin's estate. The special featured an AI mimicking Carlin's voice and style. The project, led by the AI comedy channel Dudesy, drew criticism for disrespecting Carlin's legacy and autonomy.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Economic and cultural devaluation of human effort","entity":"Human","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Will Sasso, Dudesy, Chad Kultgen"],"developers":["Unnamed, Dudesy"],"harmed":["Kelly Carlin, George Carlin'S Estate, George Carlin"],"report_count":8},{"incident_id":549,"occurred_on":"2023-01-05","title":"Fast Food Chains' AI Chatbots Failed to Assist Job Applicants with Scheduling Interviews","description":"McDonald's, Wendy's, and Hardee's AI chatbots deployed to pre-screen job candidates and schedule interviews reportedly ran into issues such as not giving useful submission instructions, failing to relay information to the manager, and scheduling an interview when the manager was not available.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Increased inequality and decline in employment quality","entity":"AI","intent":"Unintentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Wendy'S, Mcdonald'S, Hardee'S"],"developers":["Wendy'S, Mcdonald'S, Hardee'S"],"harmed":["Fast Food Job Applicants, Amanda Claypool"],"report_count":1},{"incident_id":369,"occurred_on":"2022-08-29","title":"GAN Artwork Won First Place at State Fair Competition","description":"An artwork generated using generative AI won first place in the digital arts category of the Colorado State Fair's art competition, which raised concerns surrounding labor displacement and unfair competition.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Economic and cultural devaluation of human effort","entity":"Human","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Jason Allen"],"developers":["Midjourney"],"harmed":["Artists Submitting In The Digital Arts Category, Digital Artists, Artists"],"report_count":1},{"incident_id":252,"occurred_on":"2022-06-01","title":"Remotely Operated Taser-Armed Drones Proposed by Taser Manufacturer as Defense for School Shootings in the US","description":"Axon Enterprise considered development of remotely operated drones capable of tasering at a target a short distance away as a defense mechanism for mass shootings, despite its internal AI ethics board’s previous objection and condemnation as dangerous and fantastical.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Governance failure","entity":"Human","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Pre-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["None"],"developers":["Axon Enterprise"],"harmed":["Schools, Educational Communities, Students"],"report_count":1},{"incident_id":450,"occurred_on":"2021-11-01","title":"Kenyan Data Annotators Allegedly Exposed to Graphic Content for OpenAI's AI","description":"Sama AI's Kenyan contractors were reportedly asked with excessively low pay to annotate a large volume of disturbing content to improve OpenAI's generative AI systems such as ChatGPT, and whose contract was terminated prior to completion by Sama AI.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Increased inequality and decline in employment quality","entity":"Human","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Pre-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Openai"],"developers":["Openai, Chatbot Developers, Large Language Model Developers"],"harmed":["Sama, Employees Of Sama, Data Annotators"],"report_count":8},{"incident_id":435,"occurred_on":"2021-07-04","title":"Coupang Allegedly Tweaked Search Algorithms to Boost Own Products","description":"Coupang was alleged in internal reports tampering its search algorithms to prioritize exposure of its own products, which potentially violated Korea's Fair Trade Act.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Power centralization and unfair distribution of benefits","entity":"Human","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":"AI tangible harm event","sectors":["wholesale and retail trade"],"countries":["KR"],"deployers":["Coupang"],"developers":["Coupang"],"harmed":["Coupang Suppliers, Coupang Customers"],"report_count":4},{"incident_id":191,"occurred_on":"2020-10-06","title":"Korean Internet Portal Giant Naver Manipulated Shopping and Video Search Algorithms to Favor In-House Services","description":"The Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC) imposed a 26.7B KRW on Naver for manipulating shopping and video search algorithms, favoring its own online shopping business to boost its market share. ","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Competitive dynamics","entity":"Human","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Naver"],"developers":["Naver"],"harmed":["Naver Customers"],"report_count":2},{"incident_id":251,"occurred_on":"2018-08-01","title":"Amazon Allegedly Tweaked Search Algorithm to Boost Its Own Products","description":"Amazon tweaked product-search algorithm to boost and guide customers towards more profitable in-house products instead of showing mainly most-relevant and best-selling listings, which its internal engineers and lawyers alleged to violate company’s best-for-customer principle.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Power centralization and unfair distribution of benefits","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Amazon"],"developers":["Amazon"],"harmed":["Small Businesses On Amazon, Amazon Customers"],"report_count":3},{"incident_id":403,"occurred_on":"2018-01-15","title":"Gmail’s Inbox Sorting System Reportedly Reduced Visibility of Political Emails and Campaign Calls-to-Action","description":"Google's Gmail inbox sorting algorithm for political emails was reported by presidential candidates, nonprofits, and advocacy groups for having negative impact on call-to-actions, allegedly suppressing donations and impeding political actions.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Power centralization and unfair distribution of benefits","entity":"AI","intent":"Unintentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Google"],"developers":["Google"],"harmed":["Political Organizations, Political Candidates"],"report_count":2},{"incident_id":370,"occurred_on":"2017-09-27","title":"Google Fined for Changing Shopping Algorithms in EU to Favor Own Service","description":"Google was fined by EU Commission for changing its shopping algorithms in Europe to favor its own comparison service over competitors, resulting in anti-competitive effects.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Power centralization and unfair distribution of benefits","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Google"],"developers":["Google"],"harmed":["Google'S Competitor Shopping Services"],"report_count":1},{"incident_id":437,"occurred_on":"2016-12-31","title":"Amazon India Allegedly Rigged Search Results to Promote Own Products","description":"Amazon India allegedly copied products and rigged search algorithm to boost its own brands in search ranking, violating antitrust laws.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Power centralization and unfair distribution of benefits","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Amazon India"],"developers":["Amazon India"],"harmed":["Small Businesses In India, Amazon Customers In India"],"report_count":4},{"incident_id":376,"occurred_on":"2016-09-01","title":"RealPage Algorithm Allegedly Inflates Rents and Reduces Competition in Housing Market","description":"RealPage’s YieldStar pricing algorithm is at the center of allegations that it enabled landlords to coordinate rent increases by sharing nonpublic pricing and occupancy data, raising rents artificially and reducing competition. On January 7, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against six major landlords, alleging that they used the algorithm and other direct communication methods to stifle competition, harming renters nationwide.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Increased inequality and decline in employment quality","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Realpage"],"developers":["Thoma Bravo, Realpage, Jeffrey Roper"],"harmed":["Renters"],"report_count":14},{"incident_id":111,"occurred_on":"2015-09-25","title":"Amazon Flex Drivers Allegedly Fired via Automated Employee Evaluations","description":"Amazon Flex's contract delivery drivers were dismissed using a minimally human-interfered automated employee performance evaluation based on indicators impacted by out-of-driver's-control factors and without having a chance to defend against or appeal the decision.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Increased inequality and decline in employment quality","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Amazon Flex"],"developers":["Amazon"],"harmed":["Amazon Flex employees","Amazon Flex drivers"],"report_count":5},{"incident_id":10,"occurred_on":"2014-08-14","title":"Kronos Scheduling Algorithm Allegedly Caused Financial Issues for Starbucks Employees","description":"Kronos’s scheduling algorithm and its use by Starbucks managers allegedly negatively impacted financial and scheduling stability for Starbucks employees, which disadvantaged wage workers.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Increased inequality and decline in employment quality","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":"AI tangible harm event","sectors":["accommodation and food service activities"],"countries":["US"],"deployers":["Starbucks"],"developers":["Kronos"],"harmed":["Starbucks employees"],"report_count":9},{"incident_id":270,"occurred_on":"2011-04-18","title":"Apple Tweaked App Store Ranking Algorithms, Allegedly Resulted in Demotion of Local Apps in China","description":"Following Apple’s changes in ranking algorithm in its iTunes App Store, apps by allegedly reputable companies and local startups in China experienced significant drops in ranking order.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Competitive dynamics","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Apple"],"developers":["Apple"],"harmed":["Renren, Buding Movie Tickets, Yi Xia, Dangdang, Chinese Startups, Chinese Companies"],"report_count":1},{"incident_id":42,"occurred_on":"1996-04-03","title":"Inefficiencies in the United States Resident Matching Program","description":"Alvin Roth, a Ph.D at the University of Pittsburgh, describes the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and suggests future changes that are needed in the algorithm used to match recently graduated medical students to their residency programs.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Competitive dynamics","entity":"Other","intent":"Other","timing":"Other","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["National Resident Matching Program"],"developers":["National Resident Matching Program"],"harmed":["Medical Residents"],"report_count":2}]}