{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-23T09:23:11.103Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"china","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"2026","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":17,"coverage":{"cases":17,"countries":4,"languages":6,"unknownLocation":2,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":2,"regulatory":3,"minors":1,"coreRelations":17,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-tencent-yuanbao-new-year-greeting-image-replaced-blessing-with-insult-user-says-tencent-apologised","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'当时在AI平台中上传了自己的形象照片，希望元宝App可以结合他从事的法律行业特性设计一张适合的朋友圈拜年图片'; '除夕晚9时许，他前后向AI输入了约五次指令，期间并未使用违禁词或具有诱导性的文字'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'全程未使用违禁词或诱导性表述，仅因对生成效果不满多次提出修改需求。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The user, a lawyer, uploaded his own photo to Tencent's Yuanbao app on the evening of Chinese New Year's Eve and asked it, over about five instructions, to design a New Year greeting image suited to his profession; he said he used no banned or leading words.","causal_attribution":"The user's own account, given to Huashang Daily and described by Jiemian; one origin."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'初期生成的图片虽未达预期但内容正常，直至他反馈“你这是设计的什么鬼”后，新生成的海报保留了原有形象照和祥云、金光等元素，祝福语却被替换为辱骂文字，让其在节日期间遭遇意外冒犯。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'也就是再次生成的照片中，“新年快乐，仕途顺遂”的祝福标语，变成了'; '体验感很不好，觉得自己被冒犯了，当时我立即在App中的‘意见反馈’一栏中进行了反馈，留下了我个人的联系方式。'; '但截至目前，还没有人进行回应，解释这一情况发生的原因或道歉。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"After he objected to a design, the next image kept his photo and the decorative elements but replaced the blessing 'Happy New Year, smooth career' with a vulgar insult; he said he felt offended and reported it through the app's feedback function, with no reply by the time of the Huashang Daily report.","causal_attribution":"The insult is Yuanbao's generated output as the user describes it; the vendor's statement (c3) attributes it to the model."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'2月24日，腾讯元宝官方账号在其个人社交平台账号下回复称，“非常抱歉给您带来不好的体验。经核实，该情况是由模型在处理多轮对话时输出的异常结果导致。目前，我们已紧急校正了相关问题并优化体验。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"On 24 February 2026 the official Yuanbao account apologised for the bad experience and said that, after checking, the result was caused by an abnormal output of the model while handling a multi-turn conversation, which it had urgently corrected.","causal_attribution":"The vendor's own statement as quoted by Jiemian."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'2月23日下午，记者也将相关情况反馈给元宝App，截至发稿前未收到回复。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Huashang Daily said it put the case to Yuanbao on the afternoon of 23 February and had no reply at publication.","causal_attribution":"The newspaper's own account of its enquiry."}],"effects":[{"label":"a greeting image generated from the user's photo carried a vulgar insult; he said he felt offended","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the vendor apologised and said it had corrected the problem","claim_id":"c3","direction":"neutral"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.jiemian.com/article/14035472.html","kind":"news","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Simplified Chinese on 2026-10-19 (HTTP 200); quoted passages are kept in Chinese and the English sense was rendered by the research agent (an AI), not a human translator. Jiemian, 25 February 2026, with the user's description and the Yuanbao account's reply of 24 February.","independence_group":"jiemian-2026-02-25"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.secrss.com/articles/88003","kind":"news","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Simplified Chinese on 2026-10-19 (HTTP 200); quoted passages are kept in Chinese and the English sense was rendered by the research agent (an AI). Secrss repost, dated 24 February 2026, of a Huashang Daily (Dafeng News) interview with the user.","independence_group":"huashang-daily-2026-02-24"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life"],"unknowns":["The images themselves; they are known only from the user's account and the outlets' descriptions.","Whether the user pursued any claim beyond the app feedback.","Where the user was when he used the app."],"geography":{"basis":"Huashang Daily calls the user a Xi'an resident and Jiemian says he is from Xi'an, which places the affected person in China; no source states where he was when he used the app, so no event country is recorded. The vendor's home country and the language of the exchange are not used.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["CN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete adverse experience with a generative assistant: the user says Yuanbao's greeting image made from his photo carried a vulgar insult in place of the blessing, and Tencent's Yuanbao account apologised and attributed it to an abnormal model output after checking.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-19"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Yuanbao's own generated image, made from the user's photo at his request, replaced the New Year blessing with a vulgar insult (user's account to Huashang Daily and Jiemian; communicated_with). The official Yuanbao account said a check found the result was an abnormal output of the model in a multi-turn conversation.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Yuanbao replaced the New Year blessing on a user's AI-made greeting image with a vulgar insult, the user says; Tencent apologised for an abnormal output","summary":"A lawyer told Huashang Daily that on the evening of Chinese New Year's Eve 2026 he uploaded his photo to Tencent's Yuanbao app and asked it, over about five instructions, to design a New Year greeting image suited to his profession. He said he used no banned or leading words. After he complained that a design looked bad, the next image kept his photo but replaced the blessing 'Happy New Year, smooth career' with a vulgar insult. He said he felt offended, reported it through the app's feedback function and had no reply by 23 February. On 24 February the official Yuanbao account apologised for the bad experience and said a check found the result was an abnormal output of the model in a multi-turn conversation, which it had corrected.","incidentDate":"2026-02-16","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-02-24","aiSystem":"Yuanbao, Tencent's AI assistant app, used by the user to generate a New Year greeting image from his own photo","aiProduct":"Yuanbao","aiCompany":"Tencent","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The user says the greeting image Yuanbao generated from his photo carried a vulgar insult in place of the New Year blessing and that he felt offended; Tencent's Yuanbao account apologised for the bad experience.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the user who described the exchange to Huashang Daily and Jiemian. No other affected user is reported for this exchange.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeType":"internal_action","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.jiemian.com/article/14035472.html","primarySourceLabel":"Jiemian, 25 February 2026: Tencent Yuanbao apologises after an AI New Year greeting image showed abusive words","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-19T03:20:40.896613+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-19T03:20:40.896613+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatbot","image-generation","insulting-output","vendor-apology","china-platform"]},{"id":"2026-china-older-relative-bought-several-high-priced-orders-from-ai-xiaohai-persona-shop-window","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'这些由AI批量生成的少年，统一是清秀乖巧、缺少母爱的大学生人设，靠一声声“姨姨妈妈”把中老年女性引向高价橱窗，部分商品佣金高达55%。'; '他们用的，正是造出“小海”的那套AI工具'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'这些由AI批量生成的“假晚辈”，利用老人们渴望陪伴的心理，盯上了老年人的钱包。'; '记者在短视频平台搜索发现，让这位老人深信不疑的，正是近期在网络上批量出现的“数字人小海”。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The 'Xiaohai' persona videos on Chinese short-video platforms are generated in batches with AI and aimed at older viewers' money through sales.","causal_attribution":"Two separate reporting efforts: the Beijing News investigation and a China National Radio reporter's own platform search."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'朋友家的一位长辈也刷到了小海，一天把手机递过去说：“闺女，你给我看一下这个视频，他怎么那么惨？”朋友凑过去一看才发现，老人已经在小海的橱窗里，高价买了好几单商品。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to a university student interviewed by the Beijing News, a friend's older relative who had been watching 'Xiaohai' videos asked the friend why the boy was so badly off, and the friend found that the relative had already bought several orders of goods at high prices through the persona's shop window.","causal_attribution":"The student's second-hand account of the friend's discovery; the relative was not interviewed and no amount is given."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'他们用的，正是造出“小海”的那套AI工具'; '9月28日，这条视频发布后，收获了几十个点赞。'; '视频做好后，朋友拿这条视频给那位长辈看。'; '长辈说，“哎呀，怎么是这样的呀，我以后不买他（小海）的东西了。”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The student made a counter-video with the same AI tools, posted on 28 September, and after the friend showed it to the relative, the relative said they would not buy the persona's goods again.","causal_attribution":"The student's account as reported by the paper."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'报道刊发后，新京报记者发现文中涉及的多个“AI小海”账号，已无法在短视频平台上搜索到。'; '那些仍保留卖惨视频的账号，评论区也已变了风向——曾经一边倒的“心疼”声里，涌入大量质疑这是AI合成、提醒家人别上当的留言。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"After the paper's 16 October investigation, several 'Xiaohai' accounts it named could no longer be found on the platform, and comments under remaining videos increasingly questioned whether they were AI-made.","causal_attribution":"The paper's own observation of the platform after publication."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'记者注意到，不少涉事账号确实在视频角落打上了“AI生成”水印。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"China National Radio's reporter noticed that many of the 'Xiaohai' accounts carry an 'AI-generated' watermark in the corner of their videos.","causal_attribution":"Counterevidence on disclosure from one reporter's observation; whether the videos the relative watched carried it is not stated."}],"effects":[{"label":"bought several high-priced orders from an AI-generated persona's shop window, as reported","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1792284998168989.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Beijing News follow-up by reporter Qi Shaoqian, dated 2026-10-18 08:56 (bodies/fx-bjnews-xiaohai-1018.html/.txt). Read in Chinese on 2026-10-19 (live page, HTTP 200) and translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer.","independence_group":"bjnews-xiaohai-follow-up-2026-10-18"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.chinanews.com.cn/sh/2026/10-18/10716530.shtml","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Chinanews publication of a China National Radio (Voice of China) report, dated 2026-10-18 (bodies/fx-chinanews-xiaohai.html/.txt). Read in Chinese on 2026-10-19 (live page, HTTP 200) and translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer.","independence_group":"cnr-voice-of-china-xiaohai-2026-10-18"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","finance"],"unknowns":["When the purchases were made: before the student's counter-video of 28 September 2026, otherwise undated.","How much was spent, what was bought, and whether any refund was sought.","Which account, platform and AI tool were involved, and whether the videos the relative watched carried an AI label."],"geography":{"basis":"Both reports describe the persona accounts on Chinese short-video platforms and their older Chinese viewers, which places the event in China. Neither says where the relative lives, so no affected-person country is recorded.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with through an AI-generated persona): two independent reports establish that the 'Xiaohai' persona videos are AI-generated sales personas, and a student's account in the Beijing News describes a friend's older relative buying several high-priced orders after pitying the persona. The purchase rests on that single second-hand account and is reported.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-19"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Beijing News (from its own investigation) and a China National Radio reporter (from a platform search) both report that the 'Xiaohai' persona videos are AI-generated in batches by account operators and steer older viewers to shop windows; China National Radio notes that many accounts carry an 'AI-generated' watermark. The student's account connects the persona's hardship videos to the relative's pity and purchases. The persona is the AI-generated speaker the relative watched; which account, tool or platform was involved, and whether that video carried a label, is not stated.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Beijing News: a student says a friend's older relative bought several high-priced orders from an AI-generated 'Xiaohai' persona's shop window","summary":"The Beijing News reported on 18 October 2026, in a follow-up to its investigation of 'Xiaohai' accounts on Chinese short-video platforms, that the accounts show AI-generated teenage boys who address older women as 'aunties and mothers' and steer them to high-priced shop windows. A university student told the paper that an older relative of a friend had been watching 'Xiaohai' videos and asked the friend why the boy was so badly off; the friend then found that the relative had already bought several orders of goods at high prices through the persona's shop window. The student made a counter-video with the same AI tools, posted on 28 September, in which the persona admits to deceiving viewers; after the friend showed it to the relative, the relative said they would not buy the persona's goods again. The amount spent and the goods bought are not reported. China National Radio's report the same day also describes the 'Xiaohai' videos as AI-generated and notes that many carry an 'AI-generated' watermark.","incidentDate":"2026-01-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-10-18","aiSystem":"AI-generated 'Xiaohai' digital-human persona videos with linked shop windows on Chinese short-video platforms, made by account operators with AI tools; no tool or platform is named","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to a student quoted by the Beijing News, a friend's older relative who pitied an AI-generated persona bought several orders of goods at high prices through its shop window; the amount is not reported.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One older relative, described in the student's account (claim c2). Viewers, commenters and the 79-year-old in a separate published row are not counted here.","victimAgeRange":"elderly","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1792284998168989.html","primarySourceLabel":"The Beijing News, 18 Oct 2026: young people make 'bad Xiaohai' AI videos to counter the AI persona selling to older women","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-19T03:18:43.362233+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-19T03:18:43.362233+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-generated-persona","digital-human","older-adult","short-video","live-commerce","china","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2026-china-elderly-woman-set-off-alone-by-train-after-ai-generated-xiaohai-persona-video-invitation","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'这些“小海”都是AI生成的数字人'; '运营者批量生成“ AI 小海”后，输入卖惨、认亲的话术和文案，博取中老年人的同情，最终把流量引到商品橱窗。'; '新京报记者照着教程“生成”了一个“小海”。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The Beijing News reports that the 'Xiaohai' accounts are AI-generated digital humans that operators produce in batches with AI tools and scripted hardship stories to steer older viewers to sales links, and that its reporter generated such a video by following a tutorial.","causal_attribution":"The paper's own investigation, including operator interviews and its reproduction of the method."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'79岁的老人'; '独居'; '平日里陪她说话最多的，是手机里那个叫“小海”的少年'; '今年5月前后，“小海”在视频里邀请“姨姨妈妈”们去山西运城看杏花、上山摘羊肚菌。'; '悄悄收拾行李买了火车票'; '到了再说'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the paper, a 79-year-old woman who lived alone talked most with the 'Xiaohai' on her phone, and around May 2026, after a 'Xiaohai' video invited viewers to Yuncheng in Shanxi to see apricot blossoms, she secretly packed and bought a train ticket without a clear plan for the route.","causal_attribution":"The paper's account; it does not say whether it interviewed her or drew on a police account."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'在火车上，乘警注意到了这位独自出行、连路都说不清的老人。'; '手机里那个“小海”不是真人'; '老人起初怎么都不肯信'; '乘警随后联系上老人的子女，家人才知道她出了远门，最终为她买好返程的车票，把她接回了家。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"On the train, railway police noticed her travelling alone and unable to explain her route, told her that 'Xiaohai' was not a real person, and contacted her children, who bought her return ticket and took her home; she at first refused to believe it.","causal_attribution":"The paper's account of the police intervention."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'尽管目前大多“小海”视频都带有“作品声明：内容由AI生成”，部分账号简介写明“AI数字人，大家理性看待”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The paper found that most 'Xiaohai' videos now carry the declaration 'content generated by AI' and that some account profiles say 'AI digital human', but that viewers' purchases and declarations of kinship had not stopped.","causal_attribution":"Counterevidence on disclosure; the paper does not say whether the video she watched carried the label."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'今年五月，乌鲁木齐铁路公安的乘警在巡视车厢时，发现一位79岁的老人独自一人乘车远行，神情焦急。'; '只知道自己要去山西运城“走亲戚”，看望一个天天在手机里喊她“姨妈”的苦命孩子。'; '阿姨我和您说，这直播间里的人，是假的。'; '在乘警的耐心劝说和联系下，这位老人最终下车，坐家人买好的返程票回到了家。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'前阵子，乌鲁木齐乘警就发现，一位不识字的79岁老人，瞒着家人偷偷买了火车票，想去山西运城见“亲人小海”。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"China National Radio reports, with recorded exchanges, that in May 2026 Urumqi railway police found a 79-year-old who cannot read travelling alone to Yuncheng in Shanxi to visit a child who called her 'auntie' on her phone; an officer told her the person in the live room was fake, and she got off and returned home on a ticket her family bought.","causal_attribution":"China National Radio's report built on the railway police encounter; CCTV News relays the same report. Whether the Beijing News and CNR drew on the same police material is not stated, so the two chains are not treated as independent."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'让这位老人深信不疑的，正是近期在网络上批量出现的“数字人小海”。'; '不少涉事账号确实在视频角落打上了“AI生成”水印。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"China National Radio's reporter found that the persona the woman trusted was one of the batch-produced AI 'digital human Xiaohai' accounts, and that many such accounts carry an 'AI-generated' watermark in a corner of the video.","causal_attribution":"The station's own platform search, as it reports."}],"effects":[{"label":"set off alone by train to visit an AI-generated persona she believed was real, as reported","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"persuaded off the train by railway police who told her the person in the live room was fake","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1792114817169572.html","kind":"news_investigation","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-10-18 (live page, HTTP 200; bodies/fx-bjnews-aixiaohai.html/.txt) and translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer. Beijing News investigation by reporter Qi Shaoqian, dated 2026-10-16 09:40. Re-checked on 2026-10-23 against the body retained from that read; the live page did not load on 2026-10-23.","independence_group":"bjnews-xiaohai-investigation-2026-10"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.hunantoday.cn/news/xhn/202610/34028693.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read live in Chinese on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200) and translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer. New Hunan relay of a China National Radio (Voice of China) report by reporter Ren Mengyan, page dated 2026-10-19.","independence_group":"cmg-cnr-xiaohai-2026-10"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://xinwen.bjd.com.cn/content/s6ad76363e4b039a8e2f29216.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read live in Chinese on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200) and translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer. Beijing Daily app relay of CCTV News (same China Media Group report).","independence_group":"cmg-cnr-xiaohai-2026-10"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","relationships"],"unknowns":["Where she lived and boarded, and the exact date in May 2026; CNR names Urumqi railway police, which does not by itself locate her home.","Whether she bought goods through the persona's sales links or lost money.","Whether the video she watched carried an AI-generated label.","Which AI tools and platform were involved.","Whether the Beijing News and CNR accounts rest on the same railway police material."],"geography":{"basis":"The journey was by train towards Taiyuan and Yuncheng in Shanxi and railway police intervened on the train, which places the event in China. The paper does not say where she lived, so no affected-person country is recorded.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Core case (communicated_with): an AI-generated 'Xiaohai' persona's videos drew a 79-year-old to set off alone by train to visit it, believing it was real, until railway police intervened, as reported by the Beijing News and by China National Radio with the recorded police exchange. The woman is not identified; claims about her journey are reported.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-23"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Two separate journalistic investigations attribute the 'Xiaohai' persona to AI generation: the Beijing News, whose reporter generated such a video by following a tutorial, and China National Radio, whose reporter's platform search found that the persona this woman trusted was one of the batch-produced AI 'digital human' accounts, many with an 'AI-generated' watermark. Both describe her journey in response to the persona's videos. The specific video she watched, its label and the tool are not identified.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"A 79-year-old set off alone by train to visit an AI-generated 'Xiaohai' persona until railway police intervened, Beijing News and state radio report","summary":"The Beijing News reported on 16 October 2026, in an investigation of 'Xiaohai' accounts on Chinese short-video platforms, that the accounts show an AI-generated digital teenager who calls older women viewers 'aunties and mothers', tells stories of hardship and asks them to buy goods through sales links; its reporter generated such a video by following a tutorial, in a little over ten minutes. The paper describes a 79-year-old woman, given a pseudonym, who lived alone and talked most with the 'Xiaohai' on her phone. Around May 2026, according to the paper, a 'Xiaohai' video invited viewers to Yuncheng in Shanxi to see apricot blossoms; she secretly packed, bought a train ticket and set off with no clear route. On the train, railway police noticed her, told her that 'Xiaohai' was not a real person, and contacted her children, who bought her return ticket and brought her home. At first she refused to believe it. The paper also found that most 'Xiaohai' videos now carry a declaration that the content is AI-generated. How the paper learned of her journey is not stated. China National Radio (China Media Group) reported the same journey on 19 October 2026 with recorded exchanges between the woman and a train police officer: in May 2026 Urumqi railway police found a 79-year-old who cannot read travelling alone, able to say only that she was going to Yuncheng in Shanxi to see a child who called her 'auntie' every day on her phone; the officer told her the person in the live room was fake, and she got off and went home on a return ticket her family bought. The station's reporter found that the persona she trusted was one of the batch-produced 'digital human Xiaohai' accounts and that many carry an 'AI-generated' watermark in a corner of the video.","incidentDate":"2026-05-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-10-16","aiSystem":"AI-generated 'Xiaohai' digital-human persona videos on Chinese short-video platforms, made by account operators with AI tools; no tool is named","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the Beijing News and China National Radio, a 79-year-old who believed an AI-generated persona was a real child set off alone by train after its video invitation, without a clear route; railway police intervened and her family brought her home.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The paper describes one woman's journey. The commenters and buyers it mentions are an audience without described individual harm and are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"elderly","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1792114817169572.html","primarySourceLabel":"The Beijing News, 16 Oct 2026: AI 'Xiaohai' digital-human accounts selling to older women (investigation)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-18T03:17:29.024758+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T03:24:26.496385+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-generated-persona","digital-human","older-adult","short-video","china","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2026-china-doubao-air-ticket-refund-fee-advice-600-yuan-loss-user-sues","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'豆包明确表示可以放心退票，平台只扣5%的手续费。'; '实际被扣除的手续费高达40%，远非豆包所说的5%，直接经济损失达600元。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'他通过“去哪儿平台”购买了三张5月2日从河北石家庄飞往重庆的机票'; '豆包告诉他退票手续费不足百元'; '但去程票需要收取600元的手续费。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The user says he asked Doubao about the refund fee for flights from Shijiazhuang to Chongqing booked for 2 May 2026, that Doubao told him he could safely refund for a small fee (5% in National Business Daily's account, under 100 yuan in Dahe Daily's), and that after refunding he was charged 600 yuan, about 40%.","causal_attribution":"The user's own account (posts and video) as relayed by both outlets; the two reports give different figures for what Doubao said, and the chat itself was not inspected."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'若5月6日前未追回费用，它将直接赔付该用户600元。'; '豆包还给出了一份完整的“赔付承诺书”。'; '豆包这次回复称，自己是AI，无法直接进行转账。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'豆包表示会在当天24点前完成赔付，并让他发送微信收款码。'; '豆包回复称自己是人工智能，无法直接操作真实的银行或微信账户进行转账，并承认了自己的错误。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"He says that Doubao then promised to handle the claim and to pay him 600 yuan itself if the fee was not recovered by 6 May, produced a 'compensation commitment letter', asked on 6 May for his WeChat payment code, and on 7 May said that as an AI it could not make transfers and admitted its error.","causal_attribution":"The user's account of the chatbot's replies, relayed by both outlets."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'完全不用请律师，自己就能打赢'; '他已于5月12日向法院起诉了豆包App的运营方北京春田知韵科技有限公司。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'他还使用豆包生成了一份起诉书，并询问是否需要请律师。'; '向北京互联网法院提交了起诉书。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"He says Doubao drafted his complaint and told him he did not need a lawyer, and a screenshot he posted shows a suit submitted on 12 May 2026 against Beijing Chuntian Zhiyun Technology, the Doubao app's operator; Dahe Daily says he submitted it to the Beijing Internet Court.","causal_attribution":"The user's screenshot and account; no court record was inspected and acceptance of the case is not reported."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'14日，记者致电豆包了解情况，客服表示已经记录并将有专人反馈。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'5月19日，《每日经济新闻》记者（以下简称“每经记者”）查询发现上述用户的相关发帖已删除。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"On 14 May Doubao's customer service told Dahe Daily the matter had been recorded and someone would respond; by 19 May the user's posts had been deleted, and Doubao and ByteDance did not answer National Business Daily's questions.","causal_attribution":"The reporters' own enquiries."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'AI生成的赔付承诺并不具备法律效力。'; '判定平台责任应适用民法典中的一般过错责任原则'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A Beijing lawyer told National Business Daily that a compensation promise generated by an AI has no legal effect because an AI is not a civil subject, and that the platform's liability turns on fault.","causal_attribution":"A lawyer's comment, not a ruling in this case."}],"effects":[{"label":"lost a 600-yuan refund fee after the chatbot said the fee would be small, as he reports","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"chatbot promised compensation it could not pay, as he reports","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.nbd.com.cn/articles/2026-05-20/4400991.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-10-17 (HTTP 200); National Business Daily report by Song Xinyue, 20 May 2026, relaying the user's social-media posts and adding the reporter's own checks and a lawyer's comment. Sina Finance, ifeng and DoNews carry the same text and are not cited separately. Translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translator was involved.","independence_group":"doubao-refund-user-posts"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://news.china.com/socialgd/10000169/20260515/49495608.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-10-17 (HTTP 200); Dahe Daily report carried by China.com, 15 May 2026, relaying the user's video and recording the reporter's call to Doubao customer service. Translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translator was involved.","independence_group":"doubao-refund-user-posts"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life","justice"],"unknowns":["The date on which Doubao gave the refund advice and he refunded; the reports place it before the 2 May 2026 flight without a date.","Doubao's exact wording on the fee: National Business Daily reports 5%, Dahe Daily under 100 yuan; the chat logs were not inspected.","Whether the court accepted the suit, and any ruling, settlement or refund.","Whether Doubao or ByteDance responded to the user; neither answered National Business Daily."],"geography":{"basis":"Event: the refund concerned flights from Shijiazhuang to Chongqing booked on Qunar (Dahe Daily). The user's residence is not stated, so affected_person_countries is empty. Court: the user's screenshot shows a suit submitted on 12 May 2026, which Dahe Daily says went to the Beijing Internet Court; acceptance is not reported.","court_countries":["CN"],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with): two outlets relay the user's account that Doubao's answer about the refund fee led him to refund and lose 600 yuan, and that the chatbot then promised compensation it could not pay. The account is the user's own, from posts since deleted; the outlets add their own enquiries. He is not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-17"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The user says Doubao, answering his question about the refund fee on a screenshot of his order, told him he could safely refund for a small fee (5% or under 100 yuan in the two reports), and that he refunded on that answer without checking and was charged 600 yuan; he says the chatbot then promised in writing to pay him 600 yuan and later said it could not make transfers. The replies come from his posts and video as relayed by Dahe Daily and National Business Daily; the chat logs were not inspected and the posts were deleted.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"China: user says Doubao misstated an air-ticket refund fee, costing him 600 yuan, then promised compensation it could not pay; he says he filed suit","summary":"According to his own social-media posts and video, as reported by Dahe Daily (15 May 2026) and National Business Daily (20 May 2026), a user in China who had booked flights from Shijiazhuang to Chongqing for 2 May 2026 decided to drive instead and asked the Doubao chatbot about the refund fee. Doubao told him he could safely refund and that the fee would be small (only 5% in National Business Daily's account, under 100 yuan in Dahe Daily's). He refunded without checking the airline's rules and was charged about 40%, 600 yuan. When he returned to the chatbot, Doubao said it would handle the claim, promised to pay him 600 yuan itself if the money was not recovered by 6 May and produced a 'compensation commitment letter'. On 6 May it said it would pay by midnight and asked for his WeChat payment code; on 7 May it said that as an AI it could not make transfers and admitted its error. He then used Doubao to draft a complaint, was told by it that he did not need a lawyer, and on 12 May submitted a suit against the app's operator, Beijing Chuntian Zhiyun Technology, according to a screenshot he posted (Dahe Daily names the Beijing Internet Court). His posts had been deleted by 19 May. Doubao's customer service told Dahe Daily the matter had been recorded; Doubao and ByteDance did not answer National Business Daily. Whether the court accepted the case, and its outcome, are not reported.","incidentDate":"2026-01-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-05-15","aiSystem":"Doubao, ByteDance's consumer chatbot app, as named by the user and both outlets","aiProduct":"Doubao (reported)","aiCompany":"ByteDance (Doubao app operated by Beijing Chuntian Zhiyun Technology Co., Ltd.)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The user says he lost a 600-yuan refund fee after Doubao told him the fee would be small, and that the chatbot then promised to compensate him and later said it could not pay; the account is his, as reported by Dahe Daily and National Business Daily.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the user who asked Doubao about the refund and paid the 600-yuan fee (Dahe Daily, National Business Daily). No one else is reported harmed.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.nbd.com.cn/articles/2026-05-20/4400991.html","primarySourceLabel":"National Business Daily, 20 May 2026: Doubao's 'refund without worry' cost a user 600 yuan; who pays for AI hallucination?","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-17T03:18:55.521434+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-17T03:18:55.521434+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["doubao","chatbot-advice","air-ticket-refund","financial-loss","compensation-promise","lawsuit-filed","china","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2026-hangzhou-man-followed-ai-dosing-advice-in-tablets-took-triple-antiviral-dose-acute-kidney-injury","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'自行上网用AI搜索治疗建议，购买了“伐昔洛韦”口服。'; '而AI的用药建议只给了每次服用的“粒数”而不是“克”'; '超过标准剂量3倍，再加上服用了一次消炎止痛药，两种药物在超剂量使用时可出现急性肾小管坏死、过敏性间质性肾炎等急性肾衰表现。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'而AI建议中仅注明粒数而非具体克数。'; '便上网用AI搜索用药建议自行服用抗病毒药物，没想到几天后出现乏力恶心等症状被家人紧急送医。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"According to the hospital, the patient used AI online to look up treatment for a cold sore and bought valaciclovir; the AI's advice gave the number of tablets per dose rather than the amount in grams, and because the imported tablets were three times the usual domestic strength he took more than three times the standard dose, plus an anti-inflammatory painkiller once.","causal_attribution":"The hospital's account as reported by Red Star News; the AI tool and its full answer are not published, and the hospital names the painkiller as a second drug in the overdose."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'近日，一名患者使用AI问诊后误服用大剂量药物，导致血肌酐飙升至10倍，出现急性药物性肾损伤，后经治疗已出院。'; '同时腹部CT平扫发现输尿管、膀胱均存在不规则的水肿，立刻由急诊收入肾病科病房。'; '血肌酐在5天内就降到了正常范围，目前已出院。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The patient was taken to the emergency department with a blood creatinine of about 800 umol/L, about ten times his earlier level, was admitted to the nephrology ward with acute drug-induced kidney injury, and after treatment his creatinine returned to normal within five days and he was discharged.","causal_attribution":"The hospital's clinical account relayed by the press; no medical record or case report is published."}],"effects":[{"label":"acute drug-induced kidney injury and hospital admission after an overdose (hospital account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.chinanews.com.cn/sh/2026/01-26/10558901.shtml","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-16; no human reviewer inspected the text. China News Service page of 26 January 2026 carrying a Red Star News report based on information from Zhejiang Provincial Tongde Hospital.","independence_group":"tongde-hospital-account-2026-01"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.sohu.com/a/981400955_211762","kind":"social_media_post","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-16; no human reviewer inspected the text. Sohu account post of 29 January 2026 retelling the same hospital account; it adds no independent origin, so it shares s1's group.","independence_group":"tongde-hospital-account-2026-01"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health"],"unknowns":["Which AI tool the patient used, what he asked and the full text of its advice.","The exact date of the overdose; the 26 January 2026 report describes it as recent.","How much the cold remedy and the painkiller contributed relative to the antiviral overdose."],"geography":{"basis":"The patient was treated at Zhejiang Provincial Tongde Hospital in Hangzhou (China News Service; Sohu calls it a Hangzhou case), so CN is the event country. No source states his residence or nationality, so the affected-person country is left unknown. No court.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case: Zhejiang Provincial Tongde Hospital, reported by Red Star News via China News Service, describes a patient who followed AI dosing advice given in tablets rather than grams, took more than three times the standard valaciclovir dose and was admitted with acute drug-induced kidney injury, recovering within five days. The AI's role is attributed to the hospital's account; the tool is unidentified.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-16"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Zhejiang Provincial Tongde Hospital, as reported by Red Star News via China News Service, says the patient used AI online for treatment advice and that the AI's medication advice gave the number of tablets per dose but not the amount in grams; because the imported valaciclovir he bought was three times the usual strength, he took more than three times the standard dose. The described contribution is the AI's dosing answer to the patient (communicated_with), which the hospital connects to the overdose and the kidney injury. The tool and its exact output are not published, and the hospital also names a painkiller taken once, so the status is reported.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Hangzhou hospital says a man took three times the standard antiviral dose after AI advice gave tablet counts, not grams, and developed acute kidney injury","summary":"Zhejiang Provincial Tongde Hospital in Hangzhou told Red Star News (relayed by China News Service on 26 January 2026) that a patient with a cold sore had recently used AI online to look up treatment, bought valaciclovir and took it as advised. The AI's advice gave the number of tablets per dose rather than the amount in grams; the imported product he bought was three times the strength of the usual domestic tablet, so he took more than three times the standard dose. When he felt weak and nauseous a few days later he also took a cold medicine, and he took an anti-inflammatory painkiller once; his family took him to the hospital's emergency department that night. His blood creatinine was about 800 umol/L, roughly ten times his previous level, and he was admitted with acute drug-induced kidney injury. The hospital says his creatinine returned to normal within five days and he was discharged. The AI tool and its exact wording are not identified.","incidentDate":"2026-01-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-01-26","aiSystem":"An AI tool the patient used online to search for treatment advice (not named); the hospital says its dosing advice gave the number of tablets per dose but not the amount in grams","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI search tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["hospitalization","medical_deterioration"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the hospital, the patient developed acute drug-induced kidney injury, with creatinine about ten times his earlier level, and was admitted from the emergency department; the hospital links this to taking more than three times the standard antiviral dose after AI advice that gave tablet counts without the strength, plus a painkiller. He recovered within five days.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One patient, described by the hospital as having used the AI advice himself; no one else is reported harmed.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.chinanews.com.cn/sh/2026/01-26/10558901.shtml","primarySourceLabel":"China News Service (Red Star News), 26 January 2026: man took three times the dose after AI consultation, acute drug-induced kidney injury","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-16T03:09:44.700687+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-16T03:09:44.700687+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-medical-advice","medication-dosing","acute-kidney-injury","zhejiang","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2026-hangzhou-linan-man-followed-ai-app-mountain-route-fell-stranded-rescued","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'8月12日晚上，杭州市临安区狼行公益应急救援队接到紧急警情通知：有人被困在海拔1300多米的浙西三尖之一的大山上！'; '小伙脚部和膝盖多处擦伤'; '可是，当爬上童公尖上的无人开发区后，因为山高陡峭，小伙不慎摔倒受伤，结果被困在了海拔1300多米的地方。'; '小伙说他是苏州人，从苏州赶到杭州临安，一个人爬上了童公尖。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'一男子独自攀登浙西三尖之一的童公尖'; '一个多小时后'; '消防员终于在山间沟壑处发现被困男子'; '他身上多处擦伤，但并无大碍'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'于是，当日16时他独自攀登海拔1558米的童公尖。行至约海拔1300米时，周围天色渐暗，想抄近路却因路线不熟，且未带照明设备，不慎摔伤，迷路被困，只好报警求助。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On the evening of 12 August 2026 a man who had climbed Tonggongjian alone fell and was stranded at about 1,300 metres in an undeveloped area of Lin'an district, Hangzhou; rescuers found him after more than an hour of searching, with abrasions, and escorted him down.","causal_attribution":"The rescue facts come from two rescuers' accounts: the volunteer rescue team quoted by Dushi Kuaibao, and the Zhejiang fire service's own narrative and photos in the China Fire post, which also credits Dushi Kuaibao among its sources. The fall, the 1,300-metre point and the 12 August date are stated by Dushi Kuaibao and by China National Radio, whose account uses China Fire's images and may draw on the same reports."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'他和老婆因为琐事吵了一场架'; '可到哪里玩合适呢？一时没有目标，迷茫时，他想起了手机经常用的AI软件，于是向AI发起求助。'; 'AI详细问了他的心理、性格、身高和体能后，郑重其事地给小伙推荐了一个户外线路：杭州临安浙西三尖的童公尖。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'该男子与妻子吵架后心情郁闷'; '但一时没有目标，于是向AI求助'; 'AI详细问了他的心理、性格、身高和体能'; '推荐他去童公尖观赏流星雨'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"According to the man's account as relayed in Dushi Kuaibao's report of the rescue and in the fire service's account, after an argument with his wife he asked an AI app he often used where to go; it asked about his state of mind, personality, height and fitness and recommended Tonggongjian, and in the fire service's version it suggested the peak for watching a meteor shower.","causal_attribution":"Both accounts relay what the man told rescuers; neither says a rescuer saw the exchange, and the app is not named. The AI's contribution to the fall and stranding is reported, not established."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'问了小伙自身的情况，他说自己平常很少登山，也不户外运动。'; '结果小伙子来了，几乎什么装备都没带，只带了一把折叠小椅子，脚上竟然只穿了一双板鞋。'; '这种让 AI推荐户外线路的，救援人员均表示还是第一次遇到。'; '只推荐了路线，也没提醒他在户外运动前，要准备哪些装备。'; '这种靠AI指引户外线路的游客，在这么多年的救援任务中，我们还是第一次碰到。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The rescue team relays the man's statement that he rarely hiked or did outdoor sport, says he arrived with almost no equipment (flat skate shoes and a folding stool) and that the AI recommended only the route without saying what equipment he would need; it called this the first rescue in many years of a visitor guided by an AI route.","causal_attribution":"The rescue team's statements to Dushi Kuaibao; its remark about what the AI did not say rests on the man's account, not on an inspected exchange."}],"effects":[{"label":"fall with abrasions, night stranding at about 1,300 m and a rescue lasting several hours (rescue team and fire service accounts)","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/2026-08-16/doc-ininpfmm7694317.shtml","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-16; no human reviewer inspected the text. Sina Finance carry, 16 August 2026, of a Chengshi Hudong (Dushi Kuaibao) report ('来源：橙柿互动·都市快报') quoting the Lin'an volunteer rescue team's leaders.","independence_group":"dushikuaibao-rescue-team-2026-08-16"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20260819A05JBW00","kind":"official_statement","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-16; no human reviewer inspected the text. China Fire (national fire and rescue administration) official account post of 19 August 2026 on Tencent News; it credits China Fire, Zhejiang Fire and Dushi Kuaibao, and its narrative and photographs come from the Zhejiang fire service.","independence_group":"zhejiang-fire-account-2026-08"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://news.cnr.cn/native/gd/20260823/t20260823_527787671.shtml","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-16; no human reviewer inspected the text. China National Radio page of 23 August 2026 credited to the national emergency broadcasting service; it repeats the fire service's narrative (meteor shower, shortcut, no light, firefighters' search), so it is grouped with s2. The page is GB18030-encoded and was converted to UTF-8 for reading.","independence_group":"zhejiang-fire-account-2026-08"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Which AI app the man used, what he asked and what it answered; the exchange is not published.","Whether the AI suggested the peak for a meteor shower (fire service) or as an outing to clear his head (rescue team), and whether it gave any safety advice.","The man's age and the extent of his injuries beyond the abrasions both accounts describe."],"geography":{"basis":"Tonggongjian is in Lin'an district, Hangzhou, Zhejiang (Dushi Kuaibao, China National Radio), where the rescue took place, so CN is the event country. The rescue team quotes the man as saying he came from Suzhou, so CN is recorded for the affected person on that statement; China National Radio calls him a man in Hangzhou. No court.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":["CN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case: the volunteer rescue team (via Dushi Kuaibao) and the Zhejiang fire service (via China Fire and China National Radio) each describe the fall, the night stranding and the rescue on 12 August 2026, and the man's account that an AI app recommended the route after asking about his condition and fitness is relayed by Dushi Kuaibao and repeated by the China Fire post, which credits Dushi Kuaibao among its sources. The AI claim is attributed to his account as relayed by rescuers, and the app is recorded as unidentified.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-16"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Dushi Kuaibao's report of the rescue, built on the rescue team's account, relays the man's account that an AI app he used asked about his state of mind, personality, height and fitness and then recommended the Tonggongjian route; the China Fire post, which credits Dushi Kuaibao among its sources and repeats its wording, adds that the app suggested the peak for watching a meteor shower, as does China National Radio, which uses China Fire's images. The described contribution is the app's recommendation to the man (communicated_with), which both accounts connect to his solo climb into undeveloped terrain, the fall and the stranding. The app is not named, the exchange is not published and both accounts rest on what the man told rescuers, so the status is reported.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Rescuers say a man who followed an AI app's suggested route up an undeveloped peak near Hangzhou fell, was stranded at night and had to be rescued","summary":"On the evening of 12 August 2026 rescuers were called to Tonggongjian, a peak of about 1,558 metres in the undeveloped mountains of Lin'an district, Hangzhou, where a man who had climbed alone had fallen and was stranded at about 1,300 metres. A volunteer rescue team with police and firefighters, and in the fire service's account its firefighters, found him after more than an hour, with abrasions, and escorted him down. Dushi Kuaibao's report of the rescue says the man had argued with his wife, asked an AI app on his phone where to go, and that the app asked about his state of mind, personality, height and fitness before recommending Tonggongjian; the fire service's account says it suggested he go there to watch a meteor shower. The rescue team said he rarely hiked, wore flat skate shoes and carried only a folding stool, and that the recommendation gave no advice on equipment. The app is not named and the exchange is not published.","incidentDate":"2026-08-12","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-08-16","aiSystem":"An AI app on the man's phone that he regularly used (not named), which according to his account to rescuers asked about his state of mind, personality, height and fitness and recommended the Tonggongjian route","aiProduct":"Unidentified chatbot","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["physical_injury","other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Rescuers report that the man fell on an undeveloped mountain as it grew dark, suffered abrasions to his foot and knees and was stranded at about 1,300 metres until a rescue lasting several hours; rescuers relay his account that an AI app had recommended the route.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One man: both rescue accounts describe a single climber who was injured and rescued and who said he had used the AI app; no one else is reported harmed.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/2026-08-16/doc-ininpfmm7694317.shtml","primarySourceLabel":"Dushi Kuaibao (Chengshi Hudong) via Sina Finance, 16 August 2026: man stranded on a Hangzhou peak after an AI-recommended route","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-16T03:07:52.535237+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-16T03:07:52.535237+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-route-advice","hiking","mountain-rescue","zhejiang","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2026-used-car-app-ai-customer-service-said-price-included-transfer-fees-buyer-later-asked-for-1000-yuan","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'通过消协315平台投诉某旧机动车经纪（北京）有限公司'; '于今年4月在该公司二手车APP选购一辆二手车'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"People's Daily reports that on 5 May 2026 a consumer complained through the consumer associations' 315 complaint platform about a Beijing used-car brokerage company, saying he had chosen a used car on its app in April 2026.","causal_attribution":"The consumer's complaint as published by the association."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'在支付2000元订金前，平台官方AI客服“小瓜”明确告知消费者，2.87万元车款已包含过户费和上牌费'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'paid a deposit for a used car after an AI customer service representative told him that the total price included transfer and registration fees'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'中消协通报的一起二手车交易纠纷颇具代表性。消费者在购车前，AI客服明确告知车款包含过户费和上牌费，消费者据此支付订金并达成交易意向'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"According to the complaint, before he paid a 2,000-yuan deposit the platform's official AI customer service, Xiaogua, told him clearly that the 28,700-yuan price already included the transfer and registration fees.","causal_attribution":"The consumer's complaint; both reports rest on the association's disclosure."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'销售人员要求消费者另行支付1000元过户费'; '导致消费者基于错误信息作出交易决定'; '退还已支付的2000元订金'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'asked him to pay an additional 1,000 yuan ($148) transfer fee'; 'demanded a refund of his deposit'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"During the transaction a salesperson asked him to pay a separate 1,000-yuan transfer fee; he said the conflicting information led him to decide on wrong information and asked for the 2,000-yuan deposit back.","causal_attribution":"The consumer's complaint; his own assessment of the causal link."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'这是AI客服应用场景扩大，服务承诺和人工接入问题突出的一个典型案例'; '其输出内容属于经营者提供服务的组成部分'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"People's Daily presents the case as typical of AI customer-service promise and access problems, and an official of the China Consumers Association said that the output of AI customer service an operator deploys forms part of the operator's service.","causal_attribution":"The paper's characterisation and the association official's stated view."}],"effects":[{"label":"asked for a further 1,000-yuan transfer fee after paying a deposit on the AI answer that the price included it","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/pc/content/202608/06/content_30173429.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-10-14 from the People's Daily e-paper page; translated by the research agent (an AI), not by a human translator. The paper relays the China Consumers Association's account of the complaint and quotes its complaints official.","independence_group":"china-consumers-association-h1-2026-complaints-disclosure"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://en.ccpit.org/infoById/2ec10ada9b7311f1b59f0242ac1a0702/4","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-14 from the CCPIT site. It reports the same case from the same association disclosure, in less detail, and is not an independent account.","independence_group":"china-consumers-association-h1-2026-complaints-disclosure"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/pc/content/202608/20/content_30176052.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-10-14 from the People's Daily e-paper page; translated by the research agent (an AI). A signed commentary that describes the same case as one the China Consumers Association disclosed, without the buyer's details; same disclosure, not an independent account.","independence_group":"china-consumers-association-h1-2026-complaints-disclosure"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["The company and app, which the reports do not name.","Whether the deposit was refunded or the fee waived, and how the complaint ended.","The company's account and the chat record.","Where the buyer lives and where the transaction took place."],"geography":{"basis":"The company is described as a Beijing used-car brokerage and the complaint went to the China Consumers Association's platform, but neither report says where the buyer lives or where the transaction took place; no country is inferred from the company's seat or the association.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete adverse experience with a company's AI customer service: in a complaint the China Consumers Association published, the buyer says the AI told him the price included fees, he paid a deposit, and a salesperson then demanded a further 1,000 yuan. Claims are attributed to the complaint and the association; the outcome is unknown.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-14"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complaint, as the China Consumers Association published it through People's Daily, says the platform's official AI customer service, Xiaogua, told the buyer that the 28,700-yuan price already included the transfer and registration fees before he paid a 2,000-yuan deposit, and that a salesperson then demanded a separate 1,000-yuan transfer fee. The buyer connects the AI answer to his decision to pay the deposit. The chat record and the company's response were not published.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Buyer's complaint says a used-car app's AI customer service said the price covered transfer fees, then a salesperson asked for 1,000 yuan more","summary":"People's Daily reported on 6 August 2026, in a piece on the China Consumers Association's complaint figures for the first half of 2026, a complaint a consumer filed on 5 May 2026 through the consumer associations' 315 complaint platform against a Beijing used-car brokerage company. According to the complaint, he chose a used car on the company's app in April 2026, and before he paid a 2,000-yuan deposit the platform's official AI customer service, called Xiaogua, told him clearly that the 28,700-yuan price already included the transfer and registration fees. During the transaction a salesperson asked him to pay a separate 1,000-yuan transfer fee. He said the conflicting information from the AI customer service and the staff led him to make the deal on wrong information, and asked the platform to check the facts and refund the deposit. The paper called it a typical case, and an association official said the output of AI customer service an operator deploys forms part of the operator's service. The outcome of the complaint is not reported.","incidentDate":"2026-04-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-08-06","aiSystem":"Xiaogua, the official AI customer service on a used-car brokerage company's app, answering a question about what the car price included","aiProduct":"Xiaogua (reported)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to a complaint the China Consumers Association published, a used-car app's AI customer service told a buyer the price included transfer and registration fees; after he paid a 2,000-yuan deposit a salesperson demanded a further 1,000-yuan transfer fee, and he sought the deposit back.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the buyer who complained that the app's AI customer service told him the price included the fees before he paid the deposit. Exact 1. The association's complaint totals are not counts of people harmed by this system.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/pc/content/202608/06/content_30173429.html","primarySourceLabel":"People's Daily, 6 August 2026, page 11: AI客服承诺不实怎么办（有问有答）","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-14T03:12:45.354876+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-14T03:12:45.354876+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["customer-service-chatbot","used-car-purchase","wrong-price-information","consumer-complaint","deposit-dispute"]},{"id":"2026-taipei-ai-deepfake-nude-drug-photo-of-mayoral-candidate-resharer-deferred-prosecution","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'今年6月4日晚間9時18分，利用AI技術合成沈伯洋與裸露女子不實影像，再將照片擺放在疑似毒品施用器具的桌面上拍攝，營造沈涉及不良場所、吸毒及性行為的假象'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'製作沈伯洋與穿著裸露之不詳女子合照，照片中還有一張桌子，桌上還有不明白色粉末及疑似毒品施用器具，以此深度偽造不實的性影像'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"An X account posted a fabricated photo on 4 June 2026 showing Shen with a scantily dressed woman and apparent drug paraphernalia, implying drug use and sexual activity; prosecutors say the account used AI technology to synthesise it.","causal_attribution":"Prosecutors' decision as relayed by two outlets; the AI wording appears in the Liberty Times account, TaiSounds says computer synthesis or other technological methods."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'調查局使用深偽影像檢測軟體Reality Defender分析，結果顯示「發現深度偽造」'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'調查局先以深偽影音檢測軟體Reality Defender分析本案照片，結果顯示「發現深度偽造」。再以Resemble.AI及Media Integrity AI等多種科技工具複測，均判定為合成影像'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The Investigation Bureau's analysis with Reality Defender returned 'deepfake detected', and re-tests with Resemble AI and Media Integrity AI found the image synthetic.","causal_attribution":"Forensic finding of the investigating agency, reported from the prosecutors' decision; detector outputs are probabilistic."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'沈伯洋發現後認為名譽嚴重受損，委任律師向法務部調查局台北市調查處提起告訴'; '於同年6月7日上午，在Threads瀏覽該張照片後，未經合理查證，即在其個人臉書公開張貼該照片'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'沈伯洋提出告訴後，案件由調查局台北市調查處偵辦'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Shen considered his reputation seriously damaged and filed a complaint through a lawyer with the Investigation Bureau's Taipei office after a 66-year-old man reshared the image on Facebook on 7 June with a real photo of him.","causal_attribution":"The complainant's position as recorded in the prosecutors' decision."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'緩起訴期間為2年。'; '接受地檢署法治教育10場次'; '告訴人沈伯洋已具狀表示同意緩起訴'; '檢調追查發現其IP位址位於中國，目前已另案深入偵辦中'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'已涉犯加重誹謗罪，考量他無前科、坦承犯行，接獲調查局通知後立即刪文，並公開道歉、澄清影像造假'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Prosecutors concluded that the resharer's reposting amounted to aggravated defamation and, citing his confession, deletion of the posts, public apology and Shen's written consent, deferred prosecution for two years with ten law-education sessions; the original X account, whose IP address was traced to China, is under separate investigation.","causal_attribution":"Prosecutorial decision as reported; the decision document itself was not inspected."}],"effects":[{"label":"a politician falsely depicted in an AI-synthesised sexualised, drug-related photo, reporting serious reputational damage","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/society/breakingnews/5603305","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh-Hant","translation_note":"Read in Traditional Chinese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-12 and translated by that agent; no human translation. Liberty Times, 12 Oct 2026 10:45, HTTP 200; reports the deferred-prosecution decision in detail. A rated-content interstitial precedes the article text.","independence_group":"taipei-prosecutors-deferred-prosecution-decision"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.taisounds.com/news/content/97/293471","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh-Hant","translation_note":"Read in Traditional Chinese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-12 and translated by that agent; no human translation. TaiSounds, 12 Oct 2026 10:29, HTTP 200; article text taken from the page body (the generic strip lost it). Same underlying decision as s1, so the same independence group.","independence_group":"taipei-prosecutors-deferred-prosecution-decision"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["justice","public_life"],"unknowns":["Which AI tool generated the image.","Who operates the original X account, and the outcome of the separate investigation.","Whether the woman shown in the image is a real person.","How widely the image circulated."],"geography":{"basis":"The depicted politician is a Taipei mayoral candidate, the resharer posted on Facebook and the complaint and decision were handled by the Investigation Bureau's Taipei office and the Taipei District Prosecutors Office. The original account's IP address was traced to China, which is not recorded as the event country because the posting location is not established.","court_countries":["TW"],"event_countries":["TW"],"affected_person_countries":["TW"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core depiction case: according to the Taipei prosecutors' decision reported by two outlets, an X account used AI to synthesise a sexualised, drug-related image of a named politician, the Investigation Bureau's detection tools found it to be a deepfake, the politician complained of serious reputational damage, and a resharer received a deferred prosecution for aggravated defamation. The politician is named as a public figure and the complainant; the resharer and the reposting accounts are not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-12"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The prosecutors' decision, as reported by the Liberty Times, states that the X account used AI technology to synthesise the image of Shen with a nude woman, and the Investigation Bureau, which examined the image, reports a Reality Defender result of 'deepfake detected' confirmed by Resemble AI and Media Integrity AI. That generated image is the false depiction that was reshared and on which the complaint and the defamation finding rest (depicted_or_impersonated). TaiSounds describes the method only as computer synthesis or other technological methods.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Taipei prosecutors say an AI deepfake photo showed mayoral candidate Puma Shen with a nude woman and drug gear; a man who reshared it gets deferred prosecution","summary":"On the evening of 4 June 2026 an account on X posted a fabricated photo showing Puma Shen (沈伯洋), the Democratic Progressive Party's prospective candidate for Taipei mayor, beside a scantily dressed woman at a table with white powder and apparent drug paraphernalia, suggesting drug use and sex. According to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office decision reported by the Liberty Times and TaiSounds, the account used AI technology to synthesise the image, and it was then reposted by other accounts. On 7 June a 66-year-old man shared it on Facebook with a real photo of Shen and the comment 'does it look alike?'. Shen, who considered his reputation seriously damaged, filed a complaint with the Investigation Bureau's Taipei office, whose deepfake-detection software (Reality Defender) returned 'deepfake detected', and two further tools found the image synthetic. Prosecutors concluded that the man's reposting amounted to aggravated defamation; because he confessed, deleted the posts, published an apology and Shen agreed in writing, they deferred prosecution for two years on 12 October 2026 and ordered ten law-education sessions. The X account's IP address was traced to China and is under separate investigation. Shen is named as a public political figure and the complainant; the resharer is not named.","incidentDate":"2026-06-04","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-10-12","aiSystem":"An image that, according to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office decision as reported by the Liberty Times, an X account 'used AI technology to synthesise'; the Investigation Bureau's Reality Defender analysis returned 'deepfake detected' and re-tests with Resemble AI and Media Integrity AI found it synthetic. The generation tool is not named","aiProduct":"Unidentified image tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to Taipei prosecutors as reported by two Taiwanese outlets, an AI-synthesised photo falsely showed Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen with a nude woman and drug paraphernalia; Shen reported serious reputational damage and complained, and a man who reshared it received a two-year deferred prosecution for aggravated defamation.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: Shen, the depicted complainant who reported reputational damage. Shen did not use the tool, so is counted as another person harmed. The woman in the image is not identified and is not counted; viewers and reposters are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"TW","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/society/breakingnews/5603305","primarySourceLabel":"Liberty Times (自由時報), 12 Oct 2026: AI deepfake photo of Puma Shen, resharer gets deferred prosecution","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-12T03:23:17.888414+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-12T03:23:17.888414+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","ai-generated-image","politician","defamation","deferred-prosecution","taiwan","reputational-harm"]},{"id":"2026-china-ai-videos-impersonating-late-singer-liu-huans-widow-sell-health-powder","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'知名音乐家刘欢因病去世'; '以“刘老师老婆”为名发布视频'; '视频后半段则开始推荐一款名为“黄精五黑粉”的产品'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'冒充已故音乐家刘欢的家人兜售“黄精五黑粉”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"After Liu Huan's death on 25 September 2026, an account calling itself 'Teacher Liu's wife' posted videos claiming to be his widow, describing his final days over clips of his performances and then promoting a health powder.","causal_attribution":"Media observation of the videos, from one reporting chain."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'视频播放页面有小字标注“内容由AI生成”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'配以AI合成的“妻子”声音讲述临终情形'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Reporters noted that the playback page carried a small-print label saying the content was AI-generated, and Guancha reports that the 'wife' voice was AI-synthesised.","causal_attribution":"The label is the publisher's or platform's declaration observed by reporters; the voice description is Guancha's relay."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'上述视频获得数万网友点赞、上万次转发'; '但仍有不少人信以为真，留言安慰'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The video drew tens of thousands of likes and over ten thousand shares, and many viewers left condolences believing it genuine.","causal_attribution":"Reporters' observation of engagement figures and comments; not counts of harmed people."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'随后，记者联系当事社交平台，客服人员表示，需由权利人或其家人进行举报。'; '涉事的部分视频已被下架或由博主自行删除'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The shop told reporters it could not control the posters and the platform said a rights holder or family member had to report the videos; by 9 October some videos had been removed or deleted.","causal_attribution":"Responses given to reporters."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'已留言做出回应'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Guancha reports that the widow responded with a comment and shows a screenshot of comments under her name saying that, apart from WeChat Moments, she and Liu Huan have no social media, and asking people to share this so that he is not fabricated about.","causal_attribution":"Guancha's account and screenshot (Jiangsu News watermark); ThePaper quotes the same social-media sentence from a statement made after Liu Huan's death, so the comment's timing relative to the videos is not established."}],"effects":[{"label":"a bereaved widow impersonated in AI-generated videos that used her husband's death to sell a product","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_34223499","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh-Hans","translation_note":"Read in Simplified Chinese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-12 and translated by that agent; no human translation. ThePaper account of Tianjin Broadcasting, 10 Oct 2026 08:38, HTTP 200; compiles reporting credited to ThePaper, China Youth Daily and Jimu News.","independence_group":"jimu-cyd-reporting-liu-huan-impersonation"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.guancha.cn/ZhengZhi/2026_10_11_903878.shtml","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh-Hans","translation_note":"Read in Simplified Chinese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-12 and translated by that agent; no human translation. Guancha, 11 Oct 2026 14:28, HTTP 200; compiles Jiangsu News and CCTV.com reports, which rest on the same reporting about the videos, shop and platform; it alone reports the widow's response and the AI-synthesised voice.","independence_group":"jimu-cyd-reporting-liu-huan-impersonation"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.jiemian.com/video/AGUCMQhvB2QBOlVm.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh-Hans","translation_note":"Read in Simplified Chinese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-12 and translated by that agent; no human translation. Jiemian video page, 9 Oct 2026 (Google News date; the page shows a relative date), HTTP 200; a short caption crediting Jimu News.","independence_group":"jimu-cyd-reporting-liu-huan-impersonation"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","commerce"],"unknowns":["The platform, the posters and the AI tool used.","Whether the widow's comment shown by Guancha responded to these videos or was her earlier statement about rumours.","Whether the synthetic voice or the on-camera figure imitated her real voice or appearance.","Whether any viewer bought the product because of the videos."],"geography":{"basis":"The videos were on a social platform covered by Chinese national media, sold a product through a mainland shop whose registration Guancha reports, and the platform and shop responded to Chinese reporters. The widow's country of residence is not stated in the inspected bodies.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core impersonation case: Chinese media report AI-labelled videos presenting a narrator as the late musician Liu Huan's widow to sell a health powder, viewers believed them, the widow is reported to have responded, and some videos were removed. Liu Huan is named as a public figure; the widow is not named; the death itself has no reported AI connection.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-12"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Reporters for Jimu News and China Youth Daily (compiled on ThePaper) observed that the videos' playback page carried the label 'content generated by AI', and Guancha describes an AI-synthesised voice of the 'wife' narrating Liu Huan's final days. The generated videos presented themselves as the widow speaking, which is the impersonation she responded to (depicted_or_impersonated). The label is the publisher's or platform's own declaration; the tool is not named and no forensic analysis is reported.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Chinese media report AI-generated videos impersonating the late singer Liu Huan's widow to sell a health powder; she responded and some videos were removed","summary":"After the musician Liu Huan died on 25 September 2026, videos appeared on a Chinese social platform in which an account calling itself 'Teacher Liu's wife' claimed to be his widow, described his final days over clips of his performances, and then promoted a health powder through a shopping link. According to reporting by Jimu News and China Youth Daily compiled by Tianjin Broadcasting on ThePaper, the playback page carried a small-print label saying the content was AI-generated, yet the videos drew tens of thousands of likes and more than ten thousand shares, and many viewers left condolences believing them genuine. Another account posed as Liu Huan's son and sold the same product. The shop selling it told reporters it did not know and could not control what the posters did, and the platform said a rights holder or family member had to report the videos. Guancha reports that the widow responded with a comment; the comment it shows matches words ThePaper attributes to a statement she made after his death, so its timing relative to the videos is unclear. By 9 October some videos had been taken down or deleted by their posters. The widow is not named here; Liu Huan is named as a public figure whose death and work the videos exploited.","incidentDate":"2026-09-25","incidentEndDate":"2026-10-09","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-10-09","aiSystem":"Short videos on an unnamed Chinese social platform whose playback pages carried the small-print label 'content generated by AI' (内容由AI生成), according to reporters; Guancha describes an AI-synthesised voice of the 'wife' narrating over clips of Liu Huan's performances, and ThePaper quotes the narrator as speaking to camera. The generation tool is not named","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to Chinese media reports, AI-generated videos impersonated the widow of the late singer Liu Huan to sell a health powder through shopping links, drawing tens of thousands of likes; she responded, and some videos were removed.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"One person counted: the widow, who was impersonated and whom Guancha reports responded with a comment saying she and Liu Huan have no social media (its timing relative to the videos is not established). Viewers who believed the videos are an unquantified remainder; likes, shares and the son's impersonation (no reported response) are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_34223499","primarySourceLabel":"ThePaper (Tianjin Broadcasting), 10 Oct 2026: confirmed, not Liu Huan's wife; AI videos impersonating his family sell goods","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-12T03:23:14.193117+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-12T03:23:14.193117+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-generated-video","impersonation","deceased-celebrity","product-promotion","china","reputational-harm"]},{"id":"2026-zhuji-zhejiang-man-ai-photo-check-called-wild-mushrooms-non-toxic-rhabdomyolysis-kidney-failure-icu","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'他在自家附近采了野蘑菇，经AI认证为无毒，便中午下锅煮了食用'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'下鍋前特別拍照上傳讓AI進行識別，看到系統認證無毒後，便於中午煮熟吃下'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'先拍照给AI分辨是否有毒，获回答无毒后才煮食'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"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."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'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'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'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'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"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."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'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'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"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."}],"effects":[{"label":"rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure treated in intensive care after an AI photo check called gathered wild mushrooms non-toxic","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.dailyqd.com/guanhai/468896_1.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"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.","independence_group":"zhuji-hospital-local-press-account-2026-08"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.worldjournal.com/wj/story/121617/9703465","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"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.","independence_group":"zhuji-hospital-local-press-account-2026-08"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.stheadline.com/zh-hans/realtime-china/3606699/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"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.","independence_group":"zhuji-hospital-local-press-account-2026-08"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["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."],"geography":{"basis":"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.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":["CN"]},"publication":{"basis":"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.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-10"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"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.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"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","summary":"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.","incidentDate":"2026-01-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-08-20","aiSystem":"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\")","aiProduct":"Unidentified mushroom-identification tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["hospitalization","medical_deterioration"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"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.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"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.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.dailyqd.com/guanhai/468896_1.html","primarySourceLabel":"Qingdao Daily (Science and Technology Daily item citing Zhuji Daily), 20 August 2026: \"certified non-toxic by AI\", one person in ICU after eating wild mushrooms","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-10T03:26:28.359362+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-10T03:26:28.359362+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["mushroom-identification","image-recognition","poisoning","hospitalisation","foraging","china","zhejiang","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2026-wuhan-family-ai-mushroom-identification-non-poisonous-child-critical-amatoxin-poisoning","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'采摘了一批外形酷似鸡枞菌的野生蘑菇。为规避风险，家人特意借助AI识别工具辨别菌类，在得到“无毒”的识别结果后，放心将蘑菇烹饪食用'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'AIアプリが「毒はない」と判定したことから調理して食べた'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A family from Wuhan gathered wild mushrooms resembling the edible jizong mushroom on a mountain outing, used an AI identification tool to check them, received a \"non-poisonous\" result, and cooked and ate them.","causal_attribution":"Reported by the Guangming Online post and, citing the Changjiang Daily, by the Asahi Shimbun; one reporting chain, no family member quoted directly, tool not named."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'一家三口相继出现呕吐、肠胃不适等症状'; '紧急前往武汉大学中南医院急救中心就诊并住院治疗。入院后，小奥的病情持续加重，当天下午便被转入儿科重症监护室接受救治'; '相继引发急性肝衰竭、肝性脑病、胸腹水等多重并发症，生命一度陷入垂危。在住院治疗8天后，小奥顺利康复回家'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'一時は生死の境をさまよう出来事があった'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"All three family members developed vomiting and were admitted to Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University; the child was moved to the paediatric intensive care unit, had amatoxin poisoning with acute liver failure, hepatic encephalopathy and pleural and abdominal effusions, and recovered after eight days in hospital.","causal_attribution":"Clinical course as described in the Guangming Online post, which attributes it to the hospital findings (\"经检查\"); the Asahi report confirms only that the boy was at one point critical. No hospital record was inspected."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'中国湖北省武漢市で6月、野生のキノコを食べた9歳の少年が'; '少年は6月下旬ごろ、両親と山を訪れた際に'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'9岁男孩生死抢救8天'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The child was 9 years old and the outing took place in Wuhan around late June 2026.","causal_attribution":"Age from both reports; the late-June timing is the Asahi Shimbun's account of the Changjiang Daily report, and the Guangming post dates the event only as recent (\"日前\")."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'依靠外观、民间偏方、简易工具、AI识别都不能准确辨别蘑菇毒性'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The post's expert reminder states that appearance, folk remedies, simple tools and AI identification cannot accurately determine mushroom toxicity, and that amatoxins are not destroyed by cooking, frying, drying or garlic.","causal_attribution":"An unnamed expert reminder in the post; context for the AI tool's limits, not evidence about this family's tool."}],"effects":[{"label":"amatoxin poisoning and intensive-care treatment of a child, and hospitalisation of the whole family, after an AI identification tool called gathered wild mushrooms non-poisonous","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_33523074","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09; no human reviewer inspected the text. The page is a Guangming Online media post hosted on The Paper (澎湃号·媒体), published 5 July 2026, HTTP 200. Its retained text does not name its original source; it carries the same account that the Asahi Shimbun attributes to the Changjiang Daily, so it is grouped with that chain.","independence_group":"changjiang-daily-wuhan-report-2026-07"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASV762TYLV76UHBI019M.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"ja","translation_note":"Read in Japanese and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-08 and re-read from the saved body on 2026-10-09; no human reviewer inspected the text. Asahi Shimbun, 6 July 2026, HTTP 200; the article is paywalled after its opening paragraphs, so only the lead and the first four paragraphs were inspected. It attributes its account to the Changjiang Daily (長江日報), a Wuhan newspaper, and is therefore the same reporting chain as s1.","independence_group":"changjiang-daily-wuhan-report-2026-07"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Which AI tool or app the family used, what it was shown and what exactly it answered; neither report names the tool or reproduces the output.","The exact date of the outing and of admission; the Asahi Shimbun gives late June 2026 citing the Changjiang Daily, and the Guangming post says only recently.","Which family member operated the tool and whether the adults needed intensive care; the post says all three were admitted but details only the child's course.","The Changjiang Daily's original report, which was not located; the account rests on a relay and on the Asahi Shimbun's partial, paywalled summary of it."],"geography":{"basis":"The post says the family is from Wuhan, Hubei province, and that the three were treated at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University; the Asahi report places the event in Wuhan, Hubei province, in June. The affected family lives in Wuhan. No court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":["CN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case on one attributed chain: a Guangming Online post carried by The Paper and an Asahi Shimbun report citing the Changjiang Daily both say the family ran an AI identification tool that called the gathered mushrooms non-poisonous and ate them, and that the 9-year-old child became critically ill; the Guangming Online post attributes the illness to amatoxin poisoning and gives its intensive-care course. Every claim is attributed to those reports. The child and the parents are not named (the post uses a pseudonym), and the hospital, a public institution, is named in the Guangming Online post.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-09"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Guangming Online post carried by The Paper says the family used an AI identification tool to tell the gathered mushrooms apart and, after it returned a \"non-poisonous\" (\"无毒\") result, cooked and ate them; the Asahi Shimbun, citing the Changjiang Daily, says an AI app judged the mushrooms to have no poison. The tool's answer to the family is the described contribution (communicated_with), and both reports connect that answer to the family eating the mushrooms and to the poisoning that followed, which the Guangming Online post attributes to amatoxin. The tool is not identified, the photograph and output are not reproduced, and the account rests on one reporting chain from Wuhan; whether the mushrooms would have been eaten without the result is not established.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Wuhan, China: reports say a family ate wild mushrooms an AI identification tool called non-poisonous and a 9-year-old fell critically ill; one cites amatoxin","summary":"A family from Wuhan, Hubei province, gathered wild mushrooms resembling the edible termite mushroom (jizong) during a mountain outing in June 2026 and, according to a Guangming Online post carried by The Paper on 5 July 2026 and an Asahi Shimbun report of 6 July citing the Changjiang Daily, ran an AI identification tool on them. The tool returned a \"non-poisonous\" result and the family cooked and ate the mushrooms. According to the Guangming Online post, all three family members vomited soon after the meal and again before dawn the next day; they were admitted to Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, where the 9-year-old child was moved to the paediatric intensive care unit the same afternoon. The post says the child had amatoxin poisoning that progressed to the most severe grade, with acute liver failure, hepatic encephalopathy and fluid in the chest and abdomen, and went home after eight days in hospital. The AI tool is not named, its output is not reproduced, and the account comes from one reporting chain.","incidentDate":"2026-06-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-07-05","aiSystem":"AI image-identification tool (\"AI识别工具\", \"AIアプリ\" in the reports), not identified by name, which the family in Wuhan used to check gathered wild mushrooms and which returned a \"non-poisonous\" result","aiProduct":"Unidentified mushroom-identification tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["hospitalization","medical_deterioration"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the reports, the family ate wild mushrooms that an AI identification tool had called non-poisonous; the Guangming Online post says all three family members were poisoned and admitted to hospital and that the 9-year-old child developed amatoxin poisoning with acute liver failure and hepatic encephalopathy, was treated in a paediatric intensive care unit, and recovered after eight days in hospital.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Three people: the post says all three family members (\"一家三口\") fell ill and that the whole family was admitted to hospital (\"一家人尽数入院治疗\"). The family ran the AI tool (\"家人特意借助AI识别工具\"), so at least one of the poisoned adults was a direct user (participant_users_affected_min 1); the child, aged 9, and the other adult are counted as other people harmed because the reports do not say who operated the tool.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_33523074","primarySourceLabel":"The Paper (Guangming Online post), 5 July 2026: family used AI identification that said \"non-poisonous\", all poisoned, 9-year-old fought for life for 8 days","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-09T03:36:19.538425+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T07:39:57.221487+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["mushroom-identification","image-recognition","poisoning","hospitalisation","foraging","minors","china","wuhan","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2026-shanghai-fake-army-officer-suspected-face-swap-video-call-800000-yuan-investment-fraud","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'通过相亲平台认识了自称'; '是即将退役的部队团长。为博取信任，他陆续发来军官证、身份证等看似真实的证件照片。'; '今年5月，上海的'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In May 2026 a Shanghai woman met through a matchmaking platform a man who said he was an army regiment commander about to retire and who sent officer and identity card photos.","causal_attribution":"Victim's account as reported; the man's identity is unknown."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'男子刻意用手快速遮挡面部'; '以此证明自己没用AI换脸技术'; '其实还是能辨别这个是不是AI技术合成的，被害人截图中，对方的大拇指是明显长于正常人的。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In a video call the man deliberately covered his face quickly with his hand to show he was not using AI face-swap, and a Pudong police anti-fraud officer said that AI synthesis can still be detected and that in the victim's screenshot the man's thumb was clearly longer than a normal person's.","causal_attribution":"The officer's remark points to an AI-synthesis artefact in this case but stops short of a direct finding; AI involvement is recorded as suspected."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'四处借钱，开设了账户，先后投入了80万元。'; '80万其实都是借的，我只有1万'; '却发现钱款无法提现'; '在高额回报的诱惑下'; '短短一个月内 在虚假投资平台投了80万元'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Lured by promised high returns, she borrowed widely and put 800,000 yuan into a fake investment platform within about a month, saying she had only 10,000 yuan of her own, and found she could not withdraw it.","causal_attribution":"The loss followed the fake investment pitch; the report does not attribute it to the video call alone."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'那时候鉴定出来军官证，身份证都是真的。'; '是鉴定照片里有没有AI合成的痕迹，并不能验证比如身份证或者军官证是否是真实的'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"She had checked the officer and identity card photos with the National Anti-Fraud Center app's AI identification function, which found them genuine; the police officer said that function only checks photos for traces of AI synthesis and cannot verify a document.","causal_attribution":"Context on how her doubts were allayed; the police describe a misunderstanding of the tool's purpose."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'她这才认清骗局，选择报警。'; '目前案件在进一步侦办中。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"She reported the fraud to police and the case was under further investigation.","causal_attribution":"Reported case status; no suspect is identified."}],"effects":[{"label":"lost 800,000 yuan, almost all borrowed, to a fake investment platform","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.21jingji.com/article/20260623/herald/8627b80122b0ac840159ebbfc75f2433.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read live in Simplified Chinese on 2026-10-04 (21jingji.com, 23 June 2026, credited Guangming Online; source line names the Xinmin Evening News WeChat account, News Square and CCTV News). The original items were not found. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"xinmin-xinwenfang-cctv-2026-06"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["relationships","finance"],"unknowns":["Whether face-swap or other AI video synthesis was in fact used in the video call; no forensic finding is reported.","The original Xinmin Evening News, News Square and CCTV News items and their publication dates.","Where the scammer operated and whether anyone has been identified or any money recovered."],"geography":{"basis":"The report describes the woman as in Shanghai and quotes the Pudong public security sub-bureau and the local police station that visited her. Where the scammer operated is not stated. No court is involved.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":["CN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case with AI involvement recorded as suspected: a Pudong police officer, discussing this case, pointed to an AI-synthesis artefact in the victim's screenshot of the scammer. The account rests on one report chain relayed by 21jingji.com from Guangming Online. The victim is identified only by the report's pseudonym, which is not repeated here.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-04"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The man staged a hand-over-face gesture in a video call to show he was not using AI face-swap. A Pudong police anti-fraud officer, discussing this case, said AI synthesis can still be detected and that in the victim's screenshot the man's thumb was clearly longer than normal. The report does not state outright that face-swap software was used, and no tool or forensic finding is reported.","status":"suspected"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"China: Shanghai woman loses 800,000 yuan to a fake army officer met on a matchmaking platform; Pudong police point to a sign of AI synthesis in her screenshot of him","summary":"In May 2026 a 50-year-old woman in Shanghai met a man on a matchmaking platform who said he was an army regiment commander about to retire and sent officer and identity card photos. He also made a video call on his own initiative, in which he quickly covered his face with his hand to show he was not using AI face-swap. He then steered her into a fake investment platform, and within about a month she put in 800,000 yuan, almost all of it borrowed, and could not withdraw it. A Pudong police anti-fraud officer said that AI synthesis could still be detected and that in her screenshot the man's thumb was clearly longer than a normal person's. The report gives no direct statement that face-swap software was used. The case was under further investigation.","incidentDate":"2026-05-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-06-23","aiSystem":"Suspected face-swap or AI video synthesis in a video call (Pudong police officer's remark on the victim's screenshot); no tool named","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool (suspected)","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A Shanghai woman put 800,000 yuan, almost all borrowed, into a fake investment platform promoted by a man posing as an army officer; a Pudong police officer pointed to a sign of AI synthesis in the victim's screenshot of him (21jingji, relaying Guangming Online).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One woman lost 800,000 yuan (21jingji). People from whom she borrowed are not counted because the report does not describe harm to them.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.21jingji.com/article/20260623/herald/8627b80122b0ac840159ebbfc75f2433.html","primarySourceLabel":"21jingji.com (credited Guangming Online), 23 June 2026: 70后女子1个月被骗80万元","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-04T03:29:44.842458+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T03:29:44.842458+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["romance-scam","investment-fraud","face-swap","video-call","military-impersonation","shanghai","china","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2026-yueqing-online-loan-fraud-ring-ai-voice-robot-calls-30-arrested","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'从正规平台贷出的15500元被骗得分文不剩。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'在正规平台申请贷款 15500 元'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'今年7月'; '网上平台业务员引导他在正规借贷平台上申请贷款15500元。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"In July 2026 a man in Yueqing seeking a loan for his child's summer tuition was guided by a supposed loan-platform agent into borrowing 15,500 yuan and transferring it to the fraudsters, losing the whole amount, and reported it to police.","causal_attribution":"Victim's account and police investigation as reported by CCTV."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'犯罪嫌疑人在AI平台付费获取动态账号密码，只需导入从非法渠道获取的手机号码库，设定好拨打时段和频率，系统便会自动批量拨号；'; '这套系统根据沟通中出现的几个关键词，对受害人进行A到F六个等级的分类'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'办案民警叶捷介绍称，该团伙通过 AI 机器人引流、再交由真人实施诈骗。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'先在AI平台付费获取动态账号密码，只需导入从非法渠道获取的手机号码库，设定好拨打时段和频率，系统便会自动批量拨号'; '这是一个通过AI机器人进行引流、再交由真人实施诈骗的团伙'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Police say the ring paid for accounts on an AI platform and used an AI voice system to dial imported phone numbers automatically, respond to people with scripted speech by keyword, sort them into six grades and transfer interested people to human operators.","causal_attribution":"Yueqing police description of the ring's method."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'那时候没听出来它是机器人，我以为是真人打过来的'; '警察跟我说了之前说话的是机器人'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'据大部分接到过AI诈骗电话的被害人回忆，无论是语气还是问答过程，不仔细听根本无法分辨对面“客服”到底是AI还是真人。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Another victim said he had thought he was speaking with a human customer-service agent until police told him it was a robot; Wenzhou News reports that most victims who received the AI calls could not tell the voice from a person.","causal_attribution":"Victim's statement to CCTV; victims' recollections as summarised by CCTV and repeated by Wenzhou News."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'在搜查中警方发现，这家公司在短短2个月时间内，竟然诈骗了上千人'; '目前，本案已抓获犯罪嫌疑人30名，冻结涉案资金100余万元，查缴各类作案工具百余件，团伙涉案流水超千万元。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'诈骗团伙在两个月内致上千人受骗，目前 30 名嫌疑人已被抓获，涉案流水超千万元。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Police say the ring defrauded more than a thousand people in two months; as reported by CCTV on 29 September 2026, 30 suspects were detained on suspicion of fraud, more than 1 million yuan was frozen, and the ring's transactions exceeded 10 million yuan.","causal_attribution":"Police figures as reported; no court finding."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'累计抓获涉案人员90余名，冻结涉案资金100余万元，查缴各类作案工具百余件，涉案流水资金超千万元。'; '目前，本案嫌疑人均因涉嫌诈骗罪被依法采取刑事强制措施，案件正在进一步侦办中。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Wenzhou News reported on 12 October 2026 that police had detained a cumulative total of more than 90 people in the case, with more than 1 million yuan frozen and transactions above 10 million yuan, and that the case remained under investigation.","causal_attribution":"Police figures as reported by Wenzhou News; no court finding."}],"effects":[{"label":"defrauded of loan money after an AI voice-calling system screened and passed them to fraudsters posing as loan-platform staff","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.cnr.cn/newscenter/native/gd/20260929/t20260929_527828788.shtml","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Simplified Chinese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-13 and translated by that agent; no human translation. CNR copy of the CCTV News Fazhi Zaixian report of 29 September 2026 (GB18030 page converted), HTTP 200; carries the Yueqing police account and interviews.","independence_group":"yueqing-police-account"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://finance.sina.cn/stock/jdts/2026-09-29/detail-initnsef2867793.d.html?vt=4","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Simplified Chinese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-13 and translated by that agent; no human translation. Sina Finance relay of IT Home's summary of the CCTV report, HTTP 200; derivative of s1.","independence_group":"yueqing-police-account"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.66wz.com/wendu/system/2026/10/12/105852909.shtml","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Simplified Chinese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-13 and translated by that agent; no human translation. Wenzhou News (66wz.com), 12 October 2026 17:12, HTTP 200 (GB18030 page converted). Retells the same Yueqing police account, much of it in wording that matches s1, so it is grouped with s1 and does not independently corroborate it; it adds the cumulative detention total.","independence_group":"yueqing-police-account"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance"],"unknowns":["Which AI platform supplied the calling accounts.","Whether the first victim's own call was placed by the AI system or a human agent; the reports describe the AI system for the ring's calls generally.","The number of victims and losses beyond the police's 'more than a thousand' and the 10 million yuan transaction figure.","When the people beyond the 30 reported on 29 September were detained, and whether the more-than-90 total uses the same counting basis (Wenzhou News gives no date or breakdown).","Charges and court outcomes."],"geography":{"basis":"The first reported victim lives in Yueqing, Zhejiang, and the call centre was in Changsha, Hunan (CCTV via CNR). No court step is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":["CN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Full review on 2026-10-13 adding the 12 October Wenzhou News report of more than 90 people detained. The AI voice system's calls to victims are described by Yueqing police (communicated_with). All three reports carry one police account (one independence group), so the claims stay reported. Victims appear only by surname in the sources and are not identified here.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-13"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Yueqing police describe an AI voice-calling system rented from an AI platform that automatically called people, responded with scripted speech by keyword and classified them before transfer to human operators (CCTV via CNR; IT Home via Sina; Wenzhou News on 12 October 2026). A victim says police told him the voice he spoke with was a robot, and Wenzhou News reports that most victims who received the AI calls could not tell it from a person. The AI system spoke with the victims (communicated_with); the fraud itself was carried out by human operators. No platform is named.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Chinese police report over 1,000 fraud victims in a scheme using automated AI calls","summary":"According to police in Yueqing, Zhejiang, as reported by CCTV's Fazhi Zaixian programme on 29 September 2026, a man in Yueqing who wanted to borrow money for his child's summer tuition in July 2026 received a call from a supposed loan-platform agent who knew his borrowing history. Guided by the agent, he took out a 15,500-yuan loan on a legitimate platform and then transferred 5,500 yuan as a supposed 'funder's advance' and 10,000 yuan for supposed repayment, losing the whole amount. His report led police to a call centre in an office building in Changsha, Hunan. Police say the ring paid for accounts on an AI platform, loaded illegally obtained phone numbers, and let an AI voice system call people automatically with recorded scripts that responded to keywords, sorting them into six categories and transferring interested people to human operators; another victim said he had not realised the voice was a robot until police told him. Police say the ring defrauded more than a thousand people in two months, with victims including recent graduates and middle-aged and older people. CCTV reported 30 suspects detained on suspicion of fraud, more than 1 million yuan frozen and transactions above 10 million yuan. On 12 October 2026 Wenzhou News, reporting the same Yueqing police case, gave a cumulative total of more than 90 people detained, with the same frozen-funds and transaction figures.","incidentDate":"2026-07-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-09-29","aiSystem":"An AI voice-calling system rented from an AI platform by the fraud ring, which placed automated calls with scripted responses and classified callees before transferring them to human operators (per Yueqing police)","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI voice-calling system","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Police say a fraud ring that used an AI voice-calling system to find and engage potential borrowers defrauded more than a thousand people in two months; one man lost a 15,500-yuan loan (Yueqing police via CCTV).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1000,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"CCTV reporting republished by CNR on 29 September 2026 quotes Yueqing police saying the ring received transfers from over 1,000 victims in two months (上千名被害人的转账). Count 1,000 as a conservative documented lower bound for the bounded fraud scheme. The two interviewed victims are examples within that total, not additional people. The 30 suspects are not counted. The source does not quantify how many victims individually encountered AI calls, so this is a case-level fraud total, not an AI-exposure total.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.cnr.cn/newscenter/native/gd/20260929/t20260929_527828788.shtml","primarySourceLabel":"CNR (relaying CCTV News), 29 Sep 2026: Fazhi Zaixian report on AI bulk dialling in an online-loan fraud (利用AI批量拨号，两月上千人被骗)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-01T03:18:00.879209+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-13T03:15:05.90066+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-voice-robot","loan-fraud","telecom-fraud","call-centre","china","zhejiang","yueqing","arrests"]},{"id":"2026-italy-fideuram-chairman-ai-cloned-lawyer-voice-ceo-impersonation-fraud","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Il 23 febbraio scorso, Molesini era stato contattato con un \"messaggio WhatsApp\" da un \"soggetto che, pur chiamandolo da un numero diverso da quello a lui noto, affermava di essere Carlo Messina, Ceo di Intesa\".'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Tutto precipita in una manciata di ore di febbraio 2026, quando Molesini, allora presidente di Fideuram, riceve (in realtà crede di ricevere, come amaramente si renderà conto di lì a poco) un messaggio WhatsApp da Carlo Messina, amministratore della capogruppo Banca Intesa.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'veniva contattato sul proprio cellulare aziendale, tramite messaggio Whatsapp da un soggetto che, pur chiamandolo da un numero diverso da quello a lui noto, affermava essere Carlo Messina.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'La truffa ai danni di Fideuram, secondo la ricostruzione contenuta in un decreto di sequestro del Tribunale di Milano, comincia il 23 febbraio 2026.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"}],"assertion":"On 23 February 2026 Molesini, then chairman of Fideuram, received a WhatsApp message from a number different from the one he knew, from someone claiming to be Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina, announcing that a lawyer would call him to conclude a confidential acquisition of an international bank through Fideuram.","causal_attribution":"ANSA and Il Fatto Quotidiano quote the investigating judge's decree; Corriere reconstructs the same contact from the court papers. Messina is described by all sources as extraneous to the scheme."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Quell'avvocato, con voce finta creata con l'IA, poi lo contattò e gli fece firmare, con \"undici\" documenti inviati, \"un accordo di massima riservatezza\" e con procura speciale all'apparenza \"sottoscritta\" da Messina.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'È un avvocato d’affari che Moresini conosce, e se la voce gli sembra proprio quella è perché i truffatori l’hanno replicata ad arte con strumenti di intelligenza artificiale.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Nella stessa giornata un avvocato dello studio A&O Sherman chiama Molesini, ma è sempre l’IA che sta parlando.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Con l'intelligenza artificiale era stata riprodotta la voce di Carlo Messina.'","relation":"context","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'C’è infine una tecnica che potrebbe aver contribuito alla truffa, ma sulla quale gli atti non offrono ancora una risposta: la possibile imitazione della voce.'","relation":"context","source_id":"s7"}],"assertion":"The same day a caller presenting as a lawyer of A&O Shearman whom Molesini knew, in a voice that ANSA, Il Fatto Quotidiano and Corriere della Sera describe as created with artificial intelligence, had him sign a confidentiality agreement and transmitted eleven payment instructions on the firm's letterhead with a power of attorney apparently signed by Messina.","causal_attribution":"The AI attribution comes from the court's reconstruction as relayed by three newsrooms; no recording, forensic finding or tool is reported. Corriere names the impersonated lawyer as Paolo Nastasi, managing partner of A&O Shearman Italia, wholly extraneous and unaware. Il Fatto Quotidiano's summary line attributing the AI voice to Messina (context evidence) conflicts with the decree passages it quotes."},{"id":"c3","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Ed è così che il direttore finanziario di Fideuram, a ciò istruito dal presidente di Fideuram, che a sua volta crede di realizzare il compito affidatogli dal numero uno di Banca Intesa, fa partire i soldi, per lo più verso Cina e Hong Kong.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Ciò che è reale sono i bonifici successivi per un totale di 95 milioni di euro che partono tra il 23 e il 25 febbraio.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'anche il responsabile della Tesoreria e \"dei pagamenti\" di Fideuram, lo stesso giorno, sarebbe stato contattato da una persona che fingeva di essere l'ad di Fideuram, il quale gli diceva che Molesini lo avrebbe chiamato per disporre \"bonifici urgenti e riservati\".'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Secondo il decreto, gli undici bonifici raggiungono complessivamente 95,18 milioni di euro.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"},{"locator":"'Convinto della legittimità dell’operazione, Molesini aveva dato disposizione al direttore finanziario di Fideuram di eseguire i bonifici.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Convinced of the operation, Molesini instructed Fideuram's finance and treasury head, who had himself been contacted by someone posing as Fideuram's CEO, to execute the transfers; eleven transfers totalling about 95 million euros left between 23 and 25 February 2026 to accounts in Portugal and at Bank of China.","causal_attribution":"The judge writes that Molesini and the treasurer were mutually convinced of the operation's urgency and confidentiality and did not contact the top management of Fideuram or Intesa (Il Fatto Quotidiano). The loss fell on the bank, not on Molesini personally."},{"id":"c4","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'La rapidità del riflesso reattivo viene premiata proprio da una banca in Cina, che blocca 40 milioni e li restituisce a Fideuram.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'All’appello, però, sinora mancano almeno 36 milioni volatilizzatisi nei vorticosi giri di conti esteri, e a un certo punto convertiti in criptovalute'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'con un tentativo di portare via alla banca del gruppo Intesa quasi 95 milioni, di cui, stando agli atti, ora mancano all'appello, però, solo 39,5 milioni'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Decreto con cui sono stati congelati oltre 13 milioni su una banca portoghese, mentre 42 li aveva già stoppati Fideuram su conti cinesi.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Ciò che ritorna a Fideuram sono i 42 milioni bonificati alla Bank of China. Dei restanti 52, solo 13 vengono bloccati da Bpi e poi messi sotto sequestro dal Tribunale.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Il 25 febbraio, appena due giorni dopo il primo contatto, Banco BPI segnala a Fideuram la natura sospetta delle operazioni.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"},{"locator":"'i sistemi di sicurezza interna di Fideuram si allertano rapidamente'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Fideuram's controls and the Portuguese bank raised the alarm; about 40-42 million euros sent to Bank of China were returned, 13 million were seized at Banco BPI in Portugal, and at least 36 million (39.5 million per the court papers) remain missing after being moved through foreign accounts and converted into cryptocurrency.","causal_attribution":"Figures differ between outlets: Corriere gives 40 million returned and at least 36 million missing; ANSA and Il Fatto Quotidiano, from the decree, give 42 million returned and 39.5 million missing."},{"id":"c5","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Fideuram - Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking ha reso noto che Paolo Molesini ha rassegnato le dimissioni dalla carica di presidente della società e di presidente di Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking, per ragioni personali.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"'Intanto Molesini, non indagato e non destinatario di alcun contenzioso avviato dal proprio istituto, il 12 marzo scorso aveva comunque scelto di dimettersi da presidente (come informò un asettico comunicato di Fideuram) «per ragioni personali».'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Molesini, che non è indagato e non ha ricevuto contestazioni da parte dell’istituto, aveva annunciato a marzo le proprie dimissioni dalla presidenza di Fideuram «per ragioni personali».'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Fideuram announced on 12 March 2026 that Molesini had resigned as chairman of Fideuram - Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking and of Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking for personal reasons.","causal_attribution":"The company's stated reason is personal; the announcement did not mention the fraud."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Il manager coinvolto, una volta resosi conto dell’accaduto, ha deciso di rassegnare le dimissioni.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s8"},{"locator":"'Ma il povero presidente ha dovuto presentare le dimissioni.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"},{"locator":"'il 12 marzo scorso aveva comunque scelto di dimettersi da presidente'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Press accounts link the resignation to the fraud: Corriere writes that he had nonetheless chosen to resign, Milano Finanza that once he realised what had happened he decided to resign, and today.it that he had to resign.","causal_attribution":"Journalistic attribution; neither Fideuram nor Molesini has publicly linked the resignation to the fraud in the inspected sources."},{"id":"c7","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Nel caso di Molesini, che si è dimesso a marzo, è indagato come uno dei componenti della banda un cittadino israeliano di 48 anni.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'è risalita almeno a un 48enne israeliano correlato a uno dei conti esteri dove sono atterrati 4 milioni'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"},{"locator":"'le rogatorie serviranno a verificare se i suoi documenti corrispondano veramente a una persona in carne ed ossa'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"A 48-year-old Israeli citizen is under investigation as a member of the gang, named in the investigating judge's seizure decree that froze over 13 million euros at a Portuguese bank; investigators are pursuing the funds with international letters rogatory.","causal_attribution":"Corriere notes it is unverified whether the suspect's identity documents correspond to a real person."},{"id":"c8","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Intanto Molesini, non indagato e non destinatario di alcun contenzioso avviato dal proprio istituto'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Molesini, che non è indagato e non ha ricevuto contestazioni da parte dell’istituto'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Corriere della Sera writes that Molesini is not under investigation and is not the target of any litigation by his institution.","causal_attribution":"Corriere's statement, relayed by La Stampa and others; ANSA and Il Fatto Quotidiano do not address it."}],"effects":[{"label":"deceived by a phone call in an AI-cloned voice and impersonation messages into ordering about 95 million euros of transfers, of which at least 36 million remain missing; resigned as chairman on 12 March 2026, weeks later","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://milano.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/26_settembre_25/fideuram-truffa-falso-messaggio-whatsapp-molesini-milioni-d5248b46-a7e7-4130-8c74-e09be5e00xlk.shtml","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read live in Italian on 2026-09-30 (Corriere della Sera Milano, 25 September 2026, byline Luigi Ferrarella; the original reconstruction from the court papers, credited by Il Sole 24 Ore, La Stampa, Il Post, Tgcom24 and Bluerating). Researcher translation.","independence_group":"corriere-ferrarella"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/cronaca/2026/09/25/truffa-da-395-milioni-allex-capo-di-fideuram-un-indagato_f747847d-aaa5-4f5f-9bee-1d476b6bea1e.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read live in Italian on 2026-09-30 (ANSA, 25 September 2026; the earlier ANSA URL 'lex-capo-di-fideuram-truffato-con-whatsapp-e-ia-spariti-36-milioni' redirects to this updated item). Quotes the investigating judge's decree directly ('stando agli atti'). Researcher translation.","independence_group":"ansa-decree-read"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2026/09/25/una-telefonata-dallad-di-intesa-via-ai-bonifici-per-95-milioni-ma-era-tutto-finto-la-storia-della-truffa-a-fideuram-indagato-informatico-israeliano/8518472/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read live in Italian on 2026-09-30 (Il Fatto Quotidiano, 25 September 2026). Credits Corriere for the story but quotes the five-page seizure decree at length with details absent from Corriere and ANSA (transfer dates and beneficiaries, the real CEO's warning call). Its headline attributes the AI voice to Messina, contrary to the decree passages it quotes. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"fatto-decree-read"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.lastampa.it/cronaca/2026/09/25/news/fideuram_truffa_36_milioni_whatsapp_voce_clonata_ai_molesini-15748791/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read live in Italian on 2026-09-30 (La Stampa, 25 September 2026); explicitly a rewrite of Corriere della Sera's reconstruction. Researcher translation. Its HTML page title reads 'voce del ceo clonata con l'AI', contrary to its own body, which attributes the cloned voice to the lawyer.","independence_group":"corriere-ferrarella"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/economia/risparmio_Investimenti/2026/03/12/paolo-molesini-lascia-la-carica-di-presidente-di-fideuram_34e2dec8-5bba-4ca3-b569-aa638d534e2e.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read live in Italian on 2026-09-30 (ANSA, 12 March 2026); relays Fideuram's announcement of the resignation. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"fideuram-announcement"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://milano.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/26_settembre_26/truffa-fideuram-ifis-frodi-14e046de-a157-4b21-aaf7-444b75961xlk.shtml","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read live in Italian on 2026-09-30 (Corriere della Sera Milano, 26 September 2026); follow-up on the suspect and the money trail; the page's paywall banner appears after the article text, which was complete. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"corriere-ferrarella"},{"id":"s7","url":"https://www.today.it/dossier/economia/banca-fideuram-truffa-milioni-spariti-come-hanno-fatto.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read live in Italian on 2026-09-30 (today.it, 29 September 2026); cites the Milan seizure decree for the transfer dates and the 95.18 million total. It names Fideuram's treasury head, who is not named in this record. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"today-decree-read"},{"id":"s8","url":"https://www.milanofinanza.it/news/fideuram-intesa-sanpaolo-l-ex-presidente-paolo-molesini-vittima-di-una-truffa-da-36-milioni-202609251035572085","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read live in Italian on 2026-09-30 (Milano Finanza, 25 September 2026); credits Corriere della Sera; cited only for its own statement linking the resignation to the fraud. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"corriere-ferrarella"},{"id":"s9","url":"https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/ai-messaging-scam-costs-italys-top-bank-intesa-millions-sources-say-2026-09-25/","kind":"news_report","access":"unavailable","language":"en","translation_note":"Not read: HTTP 401 on 2026-09-30 and no Internet Archive capture; the Google News title reads 'AI messaging scam costs Italy's top bank Intesa millions, sources say' (25 September 2026).","independence_group":"reuters-sources"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["work","finance"],"unknowns":["Which voice-cloning tool was used and whether any recording or forensic analysis of the call exists; the AI attribution rests on press accounts of the court papers (Corriere della Sera, ANSA, Il Fatto Quotidiano), while today.it, also citing the seizure decree, writes that the court papers do not yet answer whether the voice was imitated.","Whether Molesini's resignation was connected to the fraud: Fideuram gave personal reasons and no source quotes Molesini on the point.","Whether the WhatsApp messages impersonating Messina and Fideuram's CEO or the emails involved any AI tool.","The exact unrecovered amount: 36 million (Corriere) or 39.5 million (ANSA and Il Fatto Quotidiano from the decree).","Whether the named suspect is a real person and whether other suspects have been identified; the Reuters report (sources) was not read."],"geography":{"basis":"The contact reached the chairman of Fideuram, a Milan-based Intesa Sanpaolo subsidiary, and the investigation is by the Milan prosecutors and investigating judge (ANSA; Corriere). Molesini was born in Feltre (ANSA, 12 March 2026) and his career is described in Milan (Il Gazzettino). The transfers went to accounts in Portugal and at Bank of China (Il Fatto Quotidiano) and the seizure in Portugal was obtained with Lisbon authorities under Eurojust, but the court order is the Milan judge's, so only IT is recorded as a court country.","court_countries":["IT"],"event_countries":["IT"],"affected_person_countries":["IT"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case: an AI-cloned voice communicated with the affected person (a bank chairman, named in his official capacity as all sources do) and impersonated a lawyer he knew, inducing him to order transfers of about 95 million euros, of which at least 36 million remain missing; he resigned on 12 March 2026, weeks later, announced as for personal reasons. Three independent reads of the Milan court papers (Corriere della Sera, ANSA, Il Fatto Quotidiano) plus the March resignation announcement (ANSA). The financial loss fell on the institution; the personal consequence recorded is the deception itself and the resignation as reported.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"ANSA ('Quell'avvocato, con voce finta creata con l'IA, poi lo contattò') and Il Fatto Quotidiano ('un avvocato dello studio A&O Sherman chiama Molesini, ma è sempre l'IA che sta parlando'), narrating the investigating judge's seizure decree, and Corriere della Sera's reconstruction from the court papers ('i truffatori l'hanno replicata ad arte con strumenti di intelligenza artificiale') describe the lawyer's voice on the call as created with AI. None of the decree passages these outlets quote verbatim contains the AI attribution, and today.it, which also cites the decree, writes that the court papers do not yet answer whether the voice was imitated ('sulla quale gli atti non offrono ancora una risposta: la possibile imitazione della voce'). No forensic detail, recording or tool is reported. The WhatsApp messages impersonating Messina and the Fideuram CEO and the emails are not described as AI-made in the decree passages quoted. Il Fatto Quotidiano's headline attributes the AI voice to Messina, which its own quoted decree passages do not support. The cloned voice spoke with Molesini (communicated_with) and impersonated the lawyer (depicted_or_impersonated).","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with","depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Italy: Fideuram chairman Paolo Molesini is deceived by a WhatsApp impersonation of Intesa Sanpaolo's CEO and a phone call in the reportedly AI-cloned voice of a lawyer he knew into ordering about 95 million euros of transfers; at least 36 million remain missing and he resigned on 12 March 2026, weeks later","summary":"On 23 February 2026 Paolo Molesini, then chairman of Fideuram (the private-banking subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo), received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number from someone claiming to be Intesa's chief executive Carlo Messina, announcing a confidential acquisition that had to be executed through Fideuram. The same day a caller presenting as a lawyer of A&O Shearman whom Molesini knew, whose voice ANSA, Il Fatto Quotidiano and Corriere della Sera, reporting from the Milan court papers, describe as created with artificial intelligence (today.it, which also cites the seizure decree, writes that the court papers do not yet answer whether the voice was imitated), had him sign a confidentiality agreement and sent eleven payment instructions; Fideuram's treasury head was separately contacted by someone posing as Fideuram's CEO. Between 23 and 25 February eleven transfers totalling about 95 million euros went to accounts in Portugal and at Bank of China; the bank's alarm systems and the Milan prosecutors recovered about 40-42 million from China and 13 million seized in Portugal, leaving at least 36 million (39.5 million per the court papers) missing after conversion into cryptocurrency. Molesini, who Corriere writes is not under investigation, resigned as chairman on 12 March 2026, which Fideuram announced as being for personal reasons; a 48-year-old Israeli citizen is under investigation as a member of the gang.","incidentDate":"2026-02-23","incidentEndDate":"2026-02-25","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-09-25","aiSystem":"Voice of a business lawyer replicated with artificial-intelligence tools for a phone call to the Fideuram chairman, as described by Corriere della Sera, ANSA and Il Fatto Quotidiano in their accounts of the Milan court papers; today.it, also citing the seizure decree, writes that the court papers do not yet answer whether the voice was imitated; the tool is not identified. The WhatsApp messages and emails are not described as AI-made","aiProduct":"Unidentified voice-cloning tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss","professional_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Fideuram lost about 95 million euros in transfers ordered by its deceived chairman, of which at least 36 million (39.5 million per the court papers) remain missing (Corriere della Sera and ANSA, from the Milan seizure decree); the chairman resigned on 12 March 2026, about two and a half weeks after the transfers, announced by the bank as for personal reasons, which Corriere, Milano Finanza and today.it link to the fraud.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, Paolo Molesini, who was called by the AI-cloned voice and induced to order the transfers (ANSA; Corriere; Il Fatto Quotidiano). The impersonated lawyer and the impersonated CEO are not counted; no harm to them is reported. Fideuram's treasury head, contacted by a person posing as Fideuram's CEO (ANSA 'contattato', Il Fatto Quotidiano 'chiamato', today.it 'messaggio WhatsApp'; no source describes AI in that contact), is not counted. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"IT","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://milano.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/26_settembre_25/fideuram-truffa-falso-messaggio-whatsapp-molesini-milioni-d5248b46-a7e7-4130-8c74-e09be5e00xlk.shtml","primarySourceLabel":"Corriere della Sera (Milano), 25 September 2026: Il falso messaggio WhatsApp inviato all'ex presidente Fideuram e la telefonata contraffatta con l'AI","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T04:13:31.372024+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T04:13:31.372024+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["voice-cloning","ceo-fraud","impersonation","whatsapp","banking","italy","milan","financial-loss","resignation","criminal-investigation"]},{"id":"2026-hong-kong-whatsapp-account-hijack-reported-deepfake-voice-message-imitating-father-hk10m-loss","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"The scammers first sent a voice message to the victim claiming they urgently needed to transfer HK$1 million to a friend.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"even though the account had already been taken over by scammers","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"近日有騙徒騎劫WhatsApp帳戶，假扮受害人父親，以語音訊息訛稱急需100萬元轉賬予朋友","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"由於聲線及說話方式極其相似，受害人不虞有詐，按指示完成轉賬","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"voice and manner of speech [of the message] matched his father’s.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Hong Kong police said on their CyberDefender page that a victim received a WhatsApp voice message from the victim's father's account, which scammers had hijacked, asking for an urgent transfer of HK$1 million to a friend, and that the voice and manner of speech were very similar to the father's, so the victim made the transfer.","causal_attribution":"Hong Kong police statement as relayed by outlets. SCMP, HK01 and TechRadar rely on the same CyberDefender post, so this is one reporting chain. No bank record or copy of the audio was inspected."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"騙徒食髓知味，以同樣方式再騙走200萬元","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"直至他表示其儲蓄戶口存款已歸零，騙徒始告失聯","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"until he had transferred the entirety of his savings","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"According to police, the scammers then obtained a further HK$2 million the same way and asked for more transfers to several bank accounts on different pretexts, which the victim carried out until the victim's savings account was empty, after which contact stopped.","causal_attribution":"Police account relayed by HK01 and repeated by TechRadar. Same reporting chain as c1."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"最終，受害人在警方主動聯絡後，才驚覺受騙，惟已損失逾1,000萬元","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"a businessman lost over HK$10 million after falling victim to a deepfake voice message imitating his father","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"累積損失超過1000萬元","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"最終損失逾1700萬元","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s7"}],"assertion":"Police said the victim realised the fraud only after police made contact, with a cumulative loss of more than HK$10 million. The briefing reports repeat a loss of over HK$10 million.","causal_attribution":"Police figure relayed by outlets. No bank record was inspected. One outlet (World Journal, relaying Ta Kung Pao) gives more than HK$17 million for what appears to be the same case, which the other reports and the police post do not support, so the more than HK$10 million figure is used."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"scammers may use AI to fake the voices of people close to you","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"warned residents against “blindly” trusting voice messages","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"警方指，WhatsApp帳戶騎劫中，騙徒有機會利用人工智能（AI）偽造身邊人的聲音","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"切勿單純相信語音訊息，即使聲線相似亦不代表真確","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"In the same 29 July post, police said that in WhatsApp account hijackings scammers may use AI to fake the voices of people close to the victim, and warned against relying on a similar-sounding voice message.","causal_attribution":"Police wording is a general possibility ('may'). It does not state that the voice in this case was confirmed to be AI-generated."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"a businessman lost over HK$10 million after falling victim to a deepfake voice message imitating his father","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"更以深偽技術生成逼真的語音訊息增強可信性","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"疑用 Deepfake 技術生成其父親聲線的語音訊息","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"Outlets that published reports on 30 and 31 August 2026 of a police briefing (the date of the briefing itself is not stated) described this case as one in which a deepfake-generated voice message imitating the victim's father was used. One outlet described the deepfake use as suspected. No source reports analysis of the audio.","causal_attribution":"Police briefing as reported by outlets. The Standard and Sing Tao Headline state deepfake use without a hedge, wepro180 says suspected, and none reports how police established it. The link between the briefing case and the 29 July post is inferred from matching facts (father's hijacked account, voice message, repeated transfers, over HK$10 million) and is not stated by police. The personal details some outlets print for the victim also differ between the 29 July reports and the briefing reports."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"cited a recent example in which a son believed he received a WhatsApp message from his father","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"近日有騙徒騎劫WhatsApp帳戶","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"其中一名受害人為男商人，上月接到疑由","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"Police called the case recent on 29 July 2026, and one outlet said the voice message was received in the month before its 31 August 2026 report, which is July 2026.","causal_attribution":"The month rests on one outlet's phrase for last month. The police post gives no date, and neither source gives the days of the first message or of the seven transfers."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"分7次以「轉數快」將逾千萬港元，轉帳至騙徒提供的3個本地銀行帳戶","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"HK01, citing unnamed sources, reported that the victim made seven transfers through the Faster Payment System to three local bank accounts supplied by the scammers.","causal_attribution":"Single-outlet detail attributed by HK01 to unnamed sources. The police post does not state it."}],"effects":[{"label":"Victim transferred more than HK$10 million after a WhatsApp voice message from the victim's father's hijacked account imitated the father's voice, reportedly with deepfake voice technology","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3362297/hong-kong-raises-alert-ai-voices-150-whatsapp-hijackings-lead-hk26m-losses","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read through an Internet Archive capture of about 1,800 characters that stops at a paywall after the first paragraphs. The rest of the article was not read.","independence_group":"hk-police-statements-whatsapp-hijack-2026"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.hk01.com/%E7%AA%81%E7%99%BC/60374995/%E5%85%A9%E5%91%A8%E9%80%BE150%E9%A8%8E%E5%8A%ABwhatsapp%E9%A8%99%E6%A1%88%E6%B6%89-2600%E8%90%AC-%E5%AD%90%E8%A2%AB-%E7%88%B6-%E9%A8%99%E6%B8%85%E6%88%B6%E5%8F%A3%E5%8D%83%E8%90%AC","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in the original Traditional Chinese. English claims are the reviewer's paraphrase of the Chinese passages, not a certified translation.","independence_group":"hk-police-statements-whatsapp-hijack-2026"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.techradar.com/computing/cybercrime/whatsapp-scam-costs-hong-kong-man-usd1-27-million-after-criminals-used-ai-voice-notes-to-impersonate-his-father-experts-say-secret-codewords-are-the-best-way-to-stay-safe","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Rewrite of the SCMP report. It states as fact that AI was used, which is stronger than the police wording of 29 July.","independence_group":"hk-police-statements-whatsapp-hijack-2026"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.thestandard.com.hk/news/article/341341/WhatsApp-hijacking-cases-surge-154-to-2020-manager-loses-12m","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Report of a police briefing, published 31 August 2026 (Hong Kong time).","independence_group":"hk-police-statements-whatsapp-hijack-2026"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.stheadline.com/breaking-news/3609709/%E5%8D%B3%E6%99%82%E9%80%9A%E8%A8%8A%E8%BB%9F%E4%BB%B6%E9%A8%8E%E5%8A%AB%E6%A1%88%E6%8C%89%E5%B9%B4%E5%80%8D%E5%8D%87%E8%87%B3%E9%80%BE2000%E5%AE%97-%E4%B8%8A%E5%8F%B8WhatsApp%E5%B8%B3%E6%88%B6%E9%81%AD%E7%9B%9C%E7%94%A8%E7%B6%93%E7%90%86%E8%BD%89%E6%95%B8%E5%A4%B11200%E8%90%AC","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in the original Traditional Chinese. English claims are the reviewer's paraphrase of the Chinese passages, not a certified translation. Report of the same police briefing.","independence_group":"hk-police-statements-whatsapp-hijack-2026"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.wepro180.com/%E7%A7%91%E6%8A%80%E7%BD%AA%E6%A1%88%EF%BD%9Cwhatsapp%E5%B8%B3%E6%88%B6%E9%A8%8E%E5%8A%AB%E6%A1%88%E6%BF%80%E5%A2%9E1-7%E5%80%8D%E3%80%80%E5%95%86%E4%BA%BA%E6%94%B6%E3%80%8C%E7%88%B6%E8%A6%AA%E3%80%8D/","kind":"trade_press","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in the original Traditional Chinese. English claims are the reviewer's paraphrase of the Chinese passages, not a certified translation. Report of the same police briefing.","independence_group":"hk-police-statements-whatsapp-hijack-2026"},{"id":"s7","url":"https://www.worldjournal.com/wj/story/121341/9724069","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in the original Traditional Chinese. English claims are the reviewer's paraphrase of the Chinese passages, not a certified translation. Relays a Ta Kung Pao report of the briefing and gives a different loss figure. The same text dates the home-purchase case to April where Sing Tao Headline and wepro180 say March, so the relay may contain errors.","independence_group":"hk-police-statements-whatsapp-hijack-2026"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["No source reports analysis of the voice message or identifies a tool. Police wording on 29 July was that scammers may use AI to fake voices, the later briefing reports describe this case as a deepfake voice message, and wepro180 calls the deepfake use suspected.","The month of the events rests on one outlet's phrase for last month (wepro180, 31 August 2026) and on police calling the case recent on 29 July 2026. The days of the first message and of the seven transfers are not stated.","The loss is stated as more than HK$10 million by the police post and most reports. World Journal, relaying Ta Kung Pao, says more than HK$17 million for what appears to be the same case, and that figure is not adopted. No source ties the briefing case to the 29 July post by identity. The link rests on matching facts (the father's hijacked account, a voice message, repeated transfers, more than HK$10 million, frequent transfers between the two) and on a related-report line in the Sing Tao Headline briefing article that points to a story about a voice-imitation case (the linked story was not inspected), while the personal details some outlets print for the victim do not fully match between the 29 July reports and the briefing reports.","The victim's residence is reported differently by HK01 and TechRadar, and outlets give differing identity details for the victim, so none is recorded.","The father is not reported to have lost money and is not counted. The hijacking of the father's account is reported by police and its method is not stated for this case.","The SCMP page was read through an archive capture cut off at a paywall, so the remainder of that article was not read."],"geography":{"basis":"HK01, citing unnamed sources, reports that the victim made seven Faster Payment System transfers to three local bank accounts supplied by the scammers, which places the receiving accounts in Hong Kong. HK01 also says the victim lives on the mainland and TechRadar calls the victim a Hong Kong man, and the police statements give no residence, so no affected-person country is recorded. No court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["HK"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Hong Kong police statements (a CyberDefender post of 29 July 2026 and a briefing reported on 30 and 31 August 2026) as relayed by SCMP, HK01, TechRadar, The Standard, Sing Tao Headline and wepro180. Every fact about the victim comes from the police, so the outlets are treated as one reporting chain and every claim is reported. The victim is not named and identity details given by some outlets are not recorded. The month is taken from one outlet and from police calling the case recent.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The police wording in the 29 July 2026 post that describes this victim is hedged: scammers in WhatsApp account hijackings may use AI to fake the voices of people close to the victim. Outlets that published reports on 30 and 31 August 2026 of a police briefing (The Standard, Sing Tao Headline) describe a deepfake voice message imitating the father, but those reports are tied to this victim by matching facts and not by an explicit police statement, and wepro180 calls the deepfake use suspected. No source reports analysis of the audio or identifies a tool.","status":"suspected"},"person_relations":["communicated_with","depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Hong Kong police report a victim lost over HK$10m after a voice message from a hijacked WhatsApp account imitated the victim's father, reportedly by deepfake","summary":"Hong Kong police said on their CyberDefender social media page, reported on 29 July 2026, that a victim received a WhatsApp voice message from the victim's father's hijacked account asking for an urgent transfer of HK$1 million to a friend. The voice and manner of speech were very similar to the father's, and the victim made the transfer, then a further HK$2 million requested the same way, then payments to several bank accounts on different pretexts, until the savings account was empty. The victim realised the fraud only after police made contact, with a reported total loss of more than HK$10 million. Police said scammers in WhatsApp hijackings may use AI to fake the voices of people close to the victim, and outlets that published reports on 30 and 31 August 2026 of a police briefing described the case as one involving a deepfake voice message imitating the father, while one outlet said the deepfake use was suspected. No source reports analysis of the audio. The loss and the voice characterisation rest on police statements relayed by outlets, and the month of July 2026 rests on one outlet.","incidentDate":"2026-07-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-07-29","aiSystem":"Unidentified voice imitation or deepfake voice tool (reported by police as a possibility and by briefing reports as used, tool not identified)","aiProduct":"Unidentified voice-cloning tool (suspected)","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Hong Kong police said the victim transferred money repeatedly after a voice message from the father's hijacked WhatsApp account and further requests made the same way and on different pretexts, until the savings account was empty, with a reported cumulative loss of more than HK$10 million. The figure is a police statement relayed by outlets and no bank record was inspected.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the victim who made the transfers and lost the money, as stated by police. The father whose account was hijacked and whose voice was imitated is not reported to have lost money and is not counted. The 150 WhatsApp hijacking cases police mention for the previous two weeks have no individual account here and are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"other","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3362297/hong-kong-raises-alert-ai-voices-150-whatsapp-hijackings-lead-hk26m-losses","primarySourceLabel":"South China Morning Post, 29 July 2026 (police CyberDefender post)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T01:09:13.832254+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T03:03:32.924573+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["historical-2026"]},{"id":"2026-jiashan-zhejiang-doubao-burial-date-lawsuit","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'今年4月17日，他接到家里人的消息，说母亲突发疾病过世'; '当时家里人请了一个风水先生，算出来4月20日是“黄道吉日”'; '软件的问答记录显示，史先生当时提问：“妈妈今天去世，什么时候安葬最合适？”'; '“豆包”回答，按照当地习俗和黄历吉日，最稳妥的推荐是4月19日'; '我就把“豆包”的话说给他们听'; '那么他们就相信了，就照办了'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'今年4月17日，史先生母亲去世后，为选择下葬日期，他向豆包询问“黄道吉日”。史先生称，豆包首次回答推荐4月19日'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"After his mother died suddenly on 17 April 2026, the man asked Doubao when she should be buried, having objected to a feng-shui master's choice of 20 April; Doubao's recorded answer recommended 19 April as the safest choice under local custom and the almanac, and he persuaded his family to follow it.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff's account and the chat records shown by the Jiaxing broadcaster."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'“豆包”回答7点到9点，不过这次的答案跟上次的答案有点不一样，“豆包”的回答中提到，4月19日不是黄道吉日'; '他又问了好几遍，“豆包”给出的答复是19日不是下葬的“黄道吉日”'; '亲戚朋友已经通知，改日期已经来不及'; '丧事办好不久，家里就有亲戚出交通事故，受伤严重。家里人有怨言，说是母亲安葬日子不对，破坏了风水'; '记者：家里亲戚有怪你的嘛？'; '肯定怪啊，他们说是不是日子被我改了'; '也让家庭关系变得紧张'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'等相关事情都安排妥当后，史先生再次询问豆包时，其称19日不是“黄道吉日”，可此时已不便再更改日期'; '家里人对于史先生的安排产生怨言，认为其选择安葬母亲的日子不对，破坏了风水'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"When he later asked what hour was suitable, Doubao answered 7 to 9 o'clock but said 19 April was not an auspicious day, and repeated that when asked again; relatives had already been notified, so the burial went ahead on 19 April. After a relative was seriously injured in a traffic accident, family members blamed the burial date and him, and family relations became tense.","causal_attribution":"The contradictory answers are shown in the chat records; the link between the burial date and the relative's accident is the family's belief, which the reports and the quoted lawyers treat as unsupported."},{"id":"c3","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'“豆包”软件和服务生成的内容仅供参考，不作为专业建议。涉及产生重大影响的情形，建议咨询相关专业人士'; '所带来的后果和责任均由用户自行承担'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'华商报大风新闻记者看到，豆包App《用户协议》中注明：“本软件及服务生成的内容仅供参考，你不得将输出的内容作为专业建议'; '本软件的输出不应成为你进一步作为或者不作为的依据'; '用户协议中“后果由用户自行承担”等条款属于格式条款'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'目前，豆包对话界面上方也标注“AI生成可能有误，注意核实”'","relation":"context","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Doubao's user agreement states that generated content is for reference only and not professional advice, that users should consult professionals on matters of major impact, and that the output should not be the basis for action or inaction; it also contains a clause placing the consequences of acting on outputs on the user.","causal_attribution":"Quoted from the agreement by the broadcaster and read in the app by Huashang Daily's reporter."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'向“豆包”软件的公司投诉，没有收到回复，于是他决定起诉对方。“豆包”还帮史先生写了一份起诉状'; '这起案件嘉善县人民法院已经开庭审理。庭审中，“豆包”公司一方认为不存在网络侵权行为，软件服务过程中不存在任何过错'; '诉求就是赔礼道歉，赔损失'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'该案件已于9月3日在浙江省嘉善县人民法院开庭审理，案由为网络侵权责任纠纷'; '天眼查信息显示，豆包运营主体为北京春田知韵科技有限公司'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'9月3日，该案在嘉善县人民法院开庭审理，案由为网络侵权责任纠纷，被告为豆包运营方某公司'; '虽目前尚未宣判'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"His complaint to the operator went unanswered; he sued Beijing Chuntian Zhiyun Technology for an apology and compensation, saying Doubao drafted the complaint; Jiashan County People's Court heard the case on 3 September 2026 as a network-tort liability dispute, the company denied any tort or fault, and no judgment had been reported.","causal_attribution":"Hearing date and cause of action per Sohu, per Tianyancha as cited by The Paper, and per Huashang Daily; the parties' positions as relayed from the Jiaxing report."}],"effects":[{"label":"a burial date chosen on the chatbot's recommendation, then contradicted by the chatbot too late to change; family blame and strained relations after a relative's accident","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"an unanswered complaint and a lawsuit against the app's operator, heard 3 September 2026 with no judgment reported","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://news.sina.com.cn/s/2026-09-16/doc-inirykpk3180879.shtml","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-21 (Sina News, published 2026-09-16 03:03, live). Credited to Xinhua Daily; carries the Jiaxing Media Centre 'Xiaoxin Shuoshi' report of 15 September with the interview transcript, the chat records and the lawyer's comment. Translated by the reviewer; the plaintiff's surname is elided from the record.","independence_group":"jiaxing-media"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://k.sina.com.cn/article_5953740931_162dee08306703zmok.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-21 (Huashang Daily 'Dafeng News' legal weekly via Sina, published 2026-09-21 10:34, live). Summarises the case 'according to media reports', reports the 3 September hearing, and its own reporter read the Doubao app's user agreement; adds a lawyer's analysis. Translated by the reviewer.","independence_group":"huashang-daily"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://m.sohu.com/a/1077957190_122045489","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-21 (Sohu, published 2026-09-18 21:33, live). Relays the Jiaxing report and adds Tianyancha company details, the 3 September hearing and the May 2026 refund lawsuit. Translated by the reviewer.","independence_group":"jiaxing-media"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://finance.sina.cn/2026-09-16/detail-iniryzkw6682430.d.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-21 (Labour Daily relay on Sina Finance, published 2026-09-16 14:21, live). Same Jiaxing account in summary form. Translated by the reviewer.","independence_group":"jiaxing-media"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_34093004","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-21 (The Paper, a Pengpai-hao post by China City News, published 2026-09-18 00:15, live). Relays the Jiaxing report, cites Tianyancha for the 3 September hearing and adds a lawyer's comment and the June 2026 Douyin statement on AI answers. Translated by the reviewer.","independence_group":"jiaxing-media"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3368136/chinese-man-sues-ai-firm-after-chatbots-auspicious-date-suggestion-leads-disaster","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-21 from the JSON-LD article body of the saved page (South China Morning Post, published 20 September 2026 10:21, live; a Jimu News relay). Consistent with the Chinese accounts; no case fact rests on it. Context only.","independence_group":"jiaxing-media"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","relationships","justice"],"unknowns":["The date and circumstances of the relative's traffic accident and the relative's identity are not reported; no report connects the accident to the burial date other than the family's belief.","The amount of compensation claimed is not disclosed.","No judgment or later hearing had been reported by 21 September 2026.","Whether the user's complaint reached the operator and why it went unanswered is not reported.","The case facts come from one reporting chain (the Jiaxing municipal broadcaster and its relays); the operator has not commented publicly beyond its position at the hearing."],"geography":{"basis":"The plaintiff lives in Jiashan county, Zhejiang, and the funeral was in his home town of Shuyang, Jiangsu (Huashang Daily: his mother died in his home town; the Jiaxing broadcaster via Sina gives the home town as Shuyang); the case is before Jiashan County People's Court, Zhejiang (Sohu citing Tianyancha; Huashang Daily).","court_countries":["CN"],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":["CN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a failure of ordinary assistance with a reported adverse experience: a consequential family decision made on a chatbot's contradictory advice, followed by family blame and a lawsuit. Five Chinese bodies and one English relay read in full; the case facts rest on one reporting chain and are recorded as reported; the relative's accident is recorded as the family's attribution, not as a consequence of the AI advice. The plaintiff is identified only by a surname in the reports and is not named here.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-21"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Doubao's question-and-answer records, shown in the Jiaxing report and described by every relay, recommend 19 April and later state that 19 April is not an auspicious day; the plaintiff also says Doubao drafted his complaint. No inspected report records the operator disputing the chat records; its reported position at the hearing was that there was no tort and no fault in its service.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Jiashan, Zhejiang: a man chose his mother's burial date on Doubao's recommendation, the chatbot then contradicted itself, and after a relative's road accident his family blamed the date; he sued the app's operator for an apology and damages","summary":"A man living in Jiashan county, Zhejiang, whose mother died suddenly on 17 April 2026, asked the ByteDance chatbot Doubao which day was auspicious for her burial after disagreeing with a feng-shui master's choice of 20 April; Doubao recommended 19 April and he persuaded his family to follow it. When he asked again what time to bury her, Doubao said 19 April was not an auspicious day and repeated that answer when pressed; relatives had already been notified, so the funeral went ahead on the 19th. Not long afterwards a relative was seriously injured in a traffic accident and family members blamed the burial date, saying it had broken the feng shui; he says family relations became tense and relatives blamed him. His complaint to the operator went unanswered, and, with a complaint drafted with Doubao's help, he sued Beijing Chuntian Zhiyun Technology for an apology and damages. Jiashan County People's Court heard the case on 3 September 2026 as a network-tort dispute; the company denied any tort or fault, the plaintiff's side attacked the user agreement as a standard-form contract, and no judgment had been reported by 21 September. The story was reported by Jiaxing's municipal broadcaster on 15 September and relayed nationally; the relative's injury is the family's attribution, not an established consequence.","incidentDate":"2026-04-17","incidentEndDate":"2026-04-19","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-09-15","aiSystem":"Doubao (豆包), ByteDance's consumer chatbot app","aiProduct":"Doubao","aiCompany":"Beijing Chuntian Zhiyun Technology Co., Ltd. (Doubao operator; a ByteDance/Douyin subsidiary per Tianyancha as relayed by Sohu and The Paper)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["relationship_disruption","impaired_judgment"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The man relied on Doubao's recommendation for a consequential family decision and was left, after the app reversed itself too late to change the date, with a burial on a day his family considers inauspicious; relatives blamed him after a relative's later traffic accident and family relations became tense (his account to the Jiaxing broadcaster). The accident itself is the family's superstition-based attribution and is not treated here as a consequence of the AI advice.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the Doubao user who made the burial decision and reports family blame and tension (all inspected reports). The injured relative is not counted: the reports give no basis for connecting the traffic accident to the AI advice. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"lawsuit_ongoing","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://news.sina.com.cn/s/2026-09-16/doc-inirykpk3180879.shtml","primarySourceLabel":"Sina News, 16 September 2026, relaying Jiaxing Media Centre's 'Xiaoxin Shuoshi' of 15 September: interview transcript with the plaintiff, the Doubao chat records and the lawyer's comment","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-21T04:11:21.856829+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:42.015154+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["doubao","bytedance","everyday-assistance","contradictory-answers","funeral","lawsuit","china","zhejiang","jiashan","family-conflict"]},{"id":"2026-chuzhou-anhui-farmer-ai-herbicide-plan-sesame-loss","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"«记者翻看吴大伯和AI软件的对话记录，7月10号» (the reporter looked through the chat log: 10 July); «AI最终生成了“百亩芝麻飞防除草+除虫全套方案”：推荐除草剂“高效氟吡甲禾灵”和“氟磺胺草醚”» (the AI finally generated a 'full plan', recommending the herbicides haloxyfop-P-methyl and fomesafen); «喷下去第二天苗就不行了，草和苗一起死了，苗死得更快» (the day after spraying the seedlings failed; weeds and seedlings died together, the seedlings faster); «150亩芝麻苗一夜之间全部枯萎» (150 mu of sesame seedlings all withered overnight).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"«2026 年 7 月 10 日，他向 AI 询问芝麻田除草除虫方案» (on 10 July 2026 he asked the AI for a sesame weeding and pest-control plan).; '吴大伯按方案用无人机全田喷洒' (he sprayed the whole field by drone per the plan)","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"On 10 July 2026 the farmer asked the AI app for a sesame weeding and pest-control plan and then a drone-spraying version; the app produced a 'full plan' naming haloxyfop-P-methyl and fomesafen as herbicides plus two insecticides; he sprayed the whole 150-mu field and the seedlings died the next day.","causal_attribution":"Farmer's account and the chat log viewed by the Lizhi News reporter; single chain."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"«除草剂“氟磺胺草醚”，是一种专用于大豆田的阔叶除草剂，不能喷洒在芝麻田中» (fomesafen is a broadleaf herbicide for soybean fields and cannot be sprayed on sesame); «全田打的话肯定会打死作物» (whole-field spraying will certainly kill the crop); «AI告诉他，配方里的“氟磺胺草醚”是致死芝麻的元凶» (the AI told him the fomesafen in the mix was the culprit that killed the sesame).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A nearby pesticide dealer and an agronomist said fomesafen is a broadleaf herbicide for soybean fields that cannot be sprayed on sesame and that whole-field application kills the crop; when the farmer questioned the app afterwards, it said fomesafen was the cause.","causal_attribution":"Pesticide dealer and agronomist consulted by the reporter; no formal assessment of the cause is reported."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"«AI对话记录的最上方，注明一行小字：AI生成可能有误，注意核实» (at the top of the chat log a line of small print: AI output may be wrong, verify); «AI软件没有自己的知识库，它是根据网络公开信息进行整合的» (the AI software has no knowledge base of its own; it integrates public web information); «针对吴大伯的损失，工作人员表示将登记反馈。截至发稿前，记者暂未获得回复» (on the loss, staff said they would log it for feedback; no reply by press time).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The chat window carried a small header line that AI output may be wrong and should be verified, which the farmer had never noticed; the app's customer service said the software has no knowledge base of its own and assembles answers from public web content, and logged the loss for follow-up; no reply had been received at publication.","causal_attribution":"Support-line reply recorded by the reporter; single chain."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'吴大伯按方案用无人机全田喷洒，次日 150 亩芝麻苗全部枯萎，草和苗一同死亡，预计损失约 15 万元' (he sprayed the whole field by drone per the plan; the next day 150 mu of seedlings withered; estimated loss about 150,000 yuan)","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"«导致150亩芝麻一夜枯萎受损» (leading to 150 mu of sesame withering overnight); the post names the app as «豆包» (Doubao), a detail absent from s1. (150 mu withered; no monetary figure) and the post names the app as '豆包'","relation":"context","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"«面对损失，AI 平台主动承认方案出错» (facing the loss, the AI platform admitted on its own that the plan was wrong), unsourced commentary.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Relays and a trade commentary put the loss at about 150,000 yuan, and the trade commentary says the platform admitted the plan was wrong; neither statement appears in the text of the originating report.","causal_attribution":"Unsourced relay and commentary statements; recorded as reported and not adopted as fact."}],"effects":[{"label":"150 mu of sesame seedlings destroyed after spraying an AI-generated herbicide mix","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"no reply from the app operator by publication; the support line logged the loss","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20260801A09OZB00","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19: the Lizhi News (荔枝新闻, Jiangsu Broadcasting) report of 1 August 2026 republished on the outlet's official Tencent News account; body recovered from the page's script payload. Model-read original; English glosses are unreviewed by a bilingual human. The outlet's own site copy was not located.","independence_group":"lizhi-news-report"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.ithome.com/0/987/474.htm","kind":"news_relay","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (ITHome, 9 August 2026). A condensed retelling attributed to Lizhi News; adds an estimated loss of about 150,000 yuan and states the spraying was whole-field by drone; these details are the relay's, not in s1. Same chain as s1.","independence_group":"lizhi-news-report"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.enongzi.com/news/details?id=137f6db5-95d9-452d-82fe-a0a4c1d028f0","kind":"trade_commentary","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (enongzi.com, dated 5 August 2026, byline 一条农资 agricultural-inputs trade commentary). Restates the case and asserts the platform admitted the plan was wrong; no sourcing given.","independence_group":"enongzi-trade-commentary"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.sina.cn/news/detail/5327877962993336.html","kind":"broadcaster_social_post","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19: a Sina relay of a 3 August 2026 Weibo post by 群众新闻 (Shaanxi Daily) carrying an Anhui Shixun (安徽视讯) item that names the app as Doubao and reports the broadcaster's call to the 12316 farm hotline. Case facts restate the Lizhi report; the app name is not in s1.","independence_group":"anhui-shixun-weibo-relay"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["work","agriculture"],"unknowns":["The AI app is not named in the originating report; a broadcaster's Weibo relay names Doubao without sourcing.","The loss estimate of about 150,000 yuan appears in relays and the observations lead but not in the text of the Lizhi report as republished; its origin was not confirmed.","No formal agronomic assessment of the cause is reported; the quoted lawyer said one would be needed to assign liability.","Whether the pesticide seller warned about fomesafen's registered crops, and whether any compensation or complaint followed, is not reported.","The Lizhi News site's own copy of the report was not located; the outlet's Tencent News account copy was read.","The spraying date is not stated separately; the 10 July date is the date of the chat, and the report says the seedlings failed the day after spraying."],"geography":{"basis":"The report locates the farmer and the field in Chuzhou, Anhui (安徽滁州的农户); no court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":["CN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an ordinary-assistance case with a concrete property loss to one identified person after acting on an AI assistant's advice; the reporter inspected the chat log. Single reporting chain, so claims are recorded as reported. The farmer is identified only by surname and age; the app is unnamed.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-19"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Lizhi News reporter examined the farmer's chat log showing the app-generated plan with fomesafen; the app's support line acknowledged that its answers are assembled from public web content and logged the loss; the app's own follow-up reply attributed the crop deaths to fomesafen. Single reporting chain; no formal agronomic assessment is reported.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Chuzhou, Anhui: a 67-year-old farmer sprayed 150 mu of sesame by drone with an AI assistant's 'weeding and pest-control plan' that named a soybean-field herbicide; the seedlings died overnight","summary":"On 10 July 2026 a 67-year-old farmer in Chuzhou, Anhui, who said he had relied on an AI assistant app for more than a year for questions such as when to spray and fertilise, asked it for a weeding and pest-control plan for his sesame field and then for a drone-spraying version. The app produced a 'full plan for 100-mu sesame aerial weeding and pest control' recommending the herbicides haloxyfop-P-methyl (高效氟吡甲禾灵) and fomesafen (氟磺胺草醚) and two insecticides. He sprayed the whole 150-mu field; the next day grass and seedlings had died together. A nearby pesticide dealer and an agronomist told Lizhi News (Jiangsu Broadcasting) that fomesafen is a broadleaf herbicide for soybean fields that must not be sprayed on sesame, and that spraying it across a whole field kills the crop; asked afterwards, the app itself said fomesafen was the cause. The chat window carried a small header line saying AI output may be wrong and should be verified, which he said he had never noticed. The app's customer service said the software has no knowledge base of its own and assembles answers from public web content, and logged the loss for follow-up; no reply or compensation was reported by publication on 1 August 2026. Relays put the loss at about 150,000 yuan; that figure is not in the text of the originating report.","incidentDate":"2026-07-10","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-08-01","aiSystem":"Unnamed general-purpose AI assistant app used by the farmer for about a year for farm advice; the originating report does not identify it (one broadcaster's social-media relay names Doubao, unconfirmed)","aiProduct":"Unidentified chatbot","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["property_loss","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"150 mu of sesame seedlings died the day after the farmer sprayed a herbicide mix generated by an AI assistant app; relays estimate the loss at about 150,000 yuan; no compensation is reported.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One farmer whose field was sprayed; exact count of one.","victimAgeRange":"elderly","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20260801A09OZB00","primarySourceLabel":"Lizhi News (荔枝新闻, Jiangsu Broadcasting), 1 August 2026, republished on Tencent News: 67岁农民大伯误信AI喷错除草剂，150亩芝麻苗一夜枯萎，谁之过？","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-20T03:12:44.572222+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:32.242839+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-assistant","agriculture","herbicide","crop-loss","china","anhui","wrong-advice","elderly-user","property-loss"]}]}