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Zhuji, Zhejiang: reports say a man ate wild mushrooms after an AI photo check called them non-toxic; rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure treated in an ICU

A man in Zhuji, Zhejiang province, gathered wild mushrooms near his home, photographed them and asked an AI tool whether they were poisonous, according to a Science and Technology Daily item carried by Qingdao Daily on 20 August 2026 (citing Zhuji Daily) and reports by the World Journal (20 August) and Sing Tao (21 August) citing Dushi Kuaibao's Chengshi app. The reports say the tool answered that the mushrooms were non-toxic and he cooked and ate them at noon. That afternoon he developed severe abdominal pain, repeated watery diarrhoea and aching arms; at Zhuji People's Hospital his creatine kinase was reported at 28,771 U/L, about 100 times the normal value, with acidosis and raised lactate, and doctors diagnosed rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure. He was moved to the intensive care unit, treated to remove the toxin and protect organ function, and has since been discharged. The AI tool is not named, its output is not reproduced, and the account rests on one hospital-and-local-press account relayed by two chains.

AI system
Unidentified mushroom-identification tool
Occurred
2026
Reported
20 August 2026
Event location
China
What the AI did
Communicated with the person
Reported harm
HospitalizationMedical Deterioration
Whose AI use
Their own AI use
Setting
Health · Everyday life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account
3 claims: 3 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: An AI tool (not identified by name) to which the man submitted a photograph of gathered wild mushrooms and which, according to the reports, answered that they were non-toxic ("经AI认证为无毒", "系統認證無毒")

What Happened

The identification. According to the Science and Technology Daily item carried by Qingdao Daily (20 August 2026), which cites Zhuji Daily, the man picked wild mushrooms near his home, had them "certified non-toxic by AI" and cooked them for lunch. The World Journal (20 August 2026) and Sing Tao (21 August 2026), both citing Dushi Kuaibao's Chengshi app, say he photographed the mushrooms and uploaded the picture for AI identification before cooking, and ate them at noon after seeing the system's non-toxic answer.

The poisoning. The reports say that in the afternoon of the same day he developed severe abdominal pain and five episodes of watery diarrhoea, followed by aching in both arms and general weakness, and that his family took him to Zhuji People's Hospital. Tests there are reported to have shown a creatine kinase level of 28,771 U/L, about 100 times the normal value, together with acidosis and raised blood lactate, which the reports describe as acute kidney failure and rhabdomyolysis. He was transferred to the intensive care unit, where treatment aimed at clearing the toxin, treating symptoms and protecting organ function; the reports say he recovered and was discharged.

What the reports add and do not establish. The reports give no name for the AI tool, do not reproduce the photograph or the answer, and do not identify the mushroom species. The man is identified only by surname in the Hong Kong and US relays and not at all in the mainland item. Separately from this case, the World Journal and Sing Tao describe the reporters asking an AI tool to identify five wild mushrooms by video call: a Zhejiang University mycologist found two of the five identifications wrong, although the tool advised against eating all five. The Qingdao Daily item says that on 18 August the reporters asked several mainstream AI tools, all of which warned that they could not reliably identify poisonous mushrooms.

Reported harm

According to the reports, the man was admitted to Zhuji People's Hospital with rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure after eating wild mushrooms that an AI tool had called non-toxic, was treated in the intensive care unit and later discharged.

Outcome

Resolved

The man recovered and was discharged, according to all three reports. The reports carry expert advice not to pick or eat unfamiliar wild mushrooms and not to treat an AI answer as a licence to eat; no complaint, regulatory action or statement by a tool provider about this case is reported.

What remains unknown

  • Which AI tool or app the man used, what it was shown and what exactly it answered; no report names the tool or reproduces the output.
  • The date of the meal and of admission: the reports of 20 and 21 August 2026 say only that it happened recently (不久前, 日前) and that he has since been discharged.
  • The mushroom species and the toxin involved; the reports describe the clinical findings but name no species.
  • The man's age and whether anyone else ate the mushrooms; the reports describe one patient.
  • The Zhuji Daily and Dushi Kuaibao originals, which were not located; the account rests on relays of those items.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The Science and Technology Daily item carried by Qingdao Daily says the man ate the wild mushrooms after they were "certified non-toxic by AI" ("经AI认证为无毒"); the World Journal and Sing Tao, citing Dushi Kuaibao's Chengshi app, say he photographed the mushrooms and uploaded the picture for AI identification and ate them after the system answered non-toxic ("看到系統認證無毒後", "获回答无毒后才煮食"). The tool's answer to the man is the described contribution (communicated_with), and all three reports connect that answer to his eating the mushrooms and to the rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure that followed. The tool is not identified, the photograph and output are not reproduced, the mushroom species is not named, and the account rests on one hospital-and-local-press account from Zhuji; whether the mushrooms would have been eaten without the answer is not established.

3 claims: 3 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported A man in Zhuji, Zhejiang province, gathered wild mushrooms near his home, photographed them and submitted the picture to an AI tool, which answered that they were non-toxic; he then cooked and ate them at noon.

Causal attribution. Reported by the Science and Technology Daily item (citing Zhuji Daily) and by the World Journal and Sing Tao (citing Dushi Kuaibao's Chengshi app); one underlying hospital-and-local-press account, the man not quoted directly, the tool not named.

Reported The same afternoon he developed severe abdominal pain, five episodes of watery diarrhoea, aching arms and weakness; at Zhuji People's Hospital his creatine kinase was 28,771 U/L, about 100 times the normal value, with acidosis and raised lactate; he was diagnosed with acute kidney failure and rhabdomyolysis, treated in the intensive care unit, and later recovered and was discharged.

Causal attribution. Clinical course as the reports relay it from Zhuji People's Hospital; no hospital record was inspected and the figures come from one underlying account.

  • dailyqd.com(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '当天下午，该患者肚子开始不舒服，水样便接连5次，紧接着双上肢也出现酸痛症状'; '该患者肌酸激酶高达28771U/L，高出正常值的100倍，酸中毒、高乳酸血症接踵而至，这说明其已经出现急性肾衰竭和横纹肌溶解'; '患者被紧急送入ICU'; '目前患者已经康复出院'
  • worldjournal.com(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '出現嚴重腹痛與連續5次水樣便腹瀉，隨後雙上肢酸痛、全身無力，家屬見狀緊急將其送往諸暨市人民醫院'; '確認已出現急性腎衰竭與橫紋肌溶解，情況相當危急。醫療團隊隨後將其轉入ICU，採取盡快排出毒素、對症治療及保護器官功能等搶救措施，成功拯救其性命並於近日順利出院'
  • stheadline.com(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '中午食用下午便出现严重肚泻，被家人送当地人民医院'; '确认已出现急性肾衰竭与横纹肌溶解，情况相当危急。医疗团队随后将其转入ICU'
Reported Separately from this case, reporters asked an AI tool to identify five wild mushrooms by video call and a Zhejiang University mycologist found two of the five identifications wrong, although the tool advised against eating all five; on 18 August 2026 reporters asked several mainstream AI tools, which all warned that they could not reliably identify poisonous mushrooms.

Causal attribution. Journalists' own tests described in the reports; context on AI mushroom identification, not evidence about the tool this man used.

  • worldjournal.com(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '記者找了5種野蘑菇，通過視頻通話功能進行AI輔助辨認'; '5種蘑菇存在兩處差異，AI所說的白小鬼傘實為硬柄小皮傘，大蓋小皮傘實為裸腳菇'
  • dailyqd.com(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '8月18日，记者尝试向多款主流AI提问，AI均提醒，无法精准分辨毒蘑菇，更不能作为食用依据'

Sources

3 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Chinese and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-10; no human reviewer inspected the text. Qingdao Daily (青报网), 20 August 2026, HTTP 200; the page states its source as the Science and Technology Daily WeChat account (科技日报微信公号), which attributes the case to Zhuji Daily (诸暨日报). It carries the same clinical figures as the Dushi Kuaibao chain relayed by s2 and s3, so it is grouped with them as one underlying account. Applies to s1.

Read in traditional Chinese and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-10; no human reviewer inspected the text. World Journal (世界新聞網), 20 August 2026, HTTP 200; the article attributes its account to Dushi Kuaibao's Chengshi app (都市快報橙柿互動). It gives the man's surname, which the public text does not repeat. Applies to s2.

Read in simplified Chinese (the zh-hans edition of a Hong Kong outlet) and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-10; no human reviewer inspected the text. Sing Tao Headline, 21 August 2026, HTTP 200; the article attributes its account to Dushi Kuaibao's Chengshi app (都市快报橙柿互动) and repeats the World Journal's clinical passage, so it is the same chain as s2. Applies to s3.

Event countries: China. Affected-person countries: China. Court countries: Unknown.

The Qingdao Daily item says the patient was admitted to the intensive care unit of Zhuji People's Hospital and picked the mushrooms near his home; the World Journal and Sing Tao place him in Zhuji, Zhejiang province, and say his family took him to Zhuji People's Hospital. The affected man lives in Zhuji. No court proceeding is reported.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-10: Published as a core case on one attributed account: a Science and Technology Daily item carried by Qingdao Daily (citing Zhuji Daily) and World Journal and Sing Tao reports (citing Dushi Kuaibao's Chengshi app) all say the man photographed gathered wild mushrooms, received a non-toxic answer from an AI tool, ate them, and was treated in intensive care for rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure. Every claim is attributed to those reports. The man is not named in the public text; the hospital is a public institution named in all three reports.

People described

An adult man living in Zhuji, Zhejiang province, who gathered wild mushrooms near his home, ate them after an AI photo check called them non-toxic, and was treated in intensive care for rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure. His age is not reported; the public text does not repeat the surname given in two of the reports.

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

1 AI participant · 0 other people harmed

One person: the reports describe a single patient ("一名患者" in the Qingdao Daily item; "一名浙江男子" in the World Journal) who ran the AI check himself and ate the mushrooms, so he is counted as one direct user; no other person is reported harmed.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#mushroom-identification#image-recognition#poisoning#hospitalisation#foraging#china#zhejiang

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Zhuji, Zhejiang: reports say a man ate wild mushrooms after an AI photo check called them non-toxic; rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure treated in an ICU. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-zhuji-zhejiang-man-ai-photo-check-called-wild-mushrooms-non-toxic-rhabdomyolysis-kidney-failure-icu

BibTeX

@misc{2026_zhuji_zhejiang_man_ai_photo_check_called_wild_mushrooms_non_toxic_rhabdomyolysis_kidney_failure_icu,
  title = {Zhuji, Zhejiang: reports say a man ate wild mushrooms after an AI photo check called them non-toxic; rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure treated in an ICU},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-zhuji-zhejiang-man-ai-photo-check-called-wild-mushrooms-non-toxic-rhabdomyolysis-kidney-failure-icu}
}

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