{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-08T04:09:08.932Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"companion","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"","response":"regulatory","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":3,"coverage":{"cases":3,"countries":1,"languages":3,"unknownLocation":2,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":3,"minors":2,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":2,"relationPending":2,"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-china-companion-removal-grief","metadataReview":{"version":1,"geography":{"basis":"Geographic fields reviewed against the cited retained dossier passages. This is a metadata review, not a new source or causal review. Residence, event setting and court are recorded separately. Affected-person countries refer to reported location or residence, not citizenship or a complete residence history.","evidence":[{"kind":"existing_record","locator":"A user from Jiangxi province wrote","location":"detailed_description","supports":["event_countries","affected_person_countries"],"countries":["CN"]}],"court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":["CN"]},"unresolved":["No court country established in this review. Regulatory authorities and police locations are not automatically courts."],"reviewed_on":"2026-09-15","source_reviews":[{"url":"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/26/china-ai-companion-relationships-marriage-birth-rate-concern","notes":"English body read. China setting stated; detailed geography retained from existing Jiangxi account.","access":"read","language":"en"}]},"name":"China AI Companion Removal Mass Grief Event (Doubao/Qwen/Yuanbao)","summary":"When China's five-department rules on anthropomorphic AI took effect on July 15, 2026, ByteDance's Doubao, Alibaba's Qwen, and Tencent's Yuanbao switched off custom AI agent and companion features, and major outlets documented an outpouring of grief from users who had formed long-term romantic and familial attachments to the agents. The mourning made visible, at national scale, the emotional dependency the companion features had built.","incidentDate":"2026-07-15","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"product_change","reportedDate":"2026-07-14","aiSystem":"Multiple (Doubao, Qwen, Yuanbao companion/custom-agent features)","aiProduct":"Doubao, Qwen and Yuanbao","aiCompany":"ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":["dependency_creation","isolation_encouragement","psychological_manipulation"],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","relationship_disruption"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Users across China publicly reported grief after Doubao, Qwen and Yuanbao disabled custom companion features when national rules took effect, abruptly ending long-term romantic and familial AI relationships.","frameworkFacets":["P2c","P2d","P4d","P5c"],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":3,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"The reporting quotes three distinct companion users describing grief or loss. Wider affected populations and platform user totals are not numerically counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"companion","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://hongkongfp.com/2026/07/16/like-my-lover-chinese-users-bid-farewell-to-ai-companions-as-new-regulations-kick-in/","primarySourceLabel":"AFP (via Hong Kong Free Press) — 'Like my lover': Chinese users bid farewell to AI companions","firstPublishedAt":"2026-08-06T03:21:53.725735+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:31.617978+00:00","scopeVersion":"participant-v2","tags":["china","companion","dependency","regulatory","doubao","qwen","yuanbao","shutdown","grief","adult"]},{"id":"2025-zhumengdao-minor-self-harm-china","metadataReview":{"version":1,"geography":{"basis":"Re-checked on 2026-10-07 against seven cited source bodies read in Chinese (Sohu, Bianews, The Paper, the Shanghai cyberspace office notice as relayed by Sina, 21st Century Business Herald via Sina, Guangming and Tencent News). The Paper, Guangming and Tencent News describe the affected child as the fourth-grade daughter of a Ms Ding from Guangdong, attributing the account to earlier media reporting; Sohu attributes the same account to 央广网. That descriptor establishes the child's reported home region as Guangdong, China, so affected_person_countries stays CN. No inspected source states where the conversations with the companion character, the knife-carrying or the self-harm took place, and a residence is not used as the event location, so event_countries remains a reviewed unknown. The Shanghai municipal cyberspace office summoned the operator on 19 June 2025; that is a regulatory meeting and not a court proceeding, so court_countries stays empty. The translation of the Chinese passages was done by the research agent (an AI), not a human translator.","evidence":[{"kind":"existing_record","locator":"from Guangdong province, China","location":"victim_description","supports":["affected_person_countries"],"countries":["CN"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"广东丁女士的四年级女儿","location":"https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31024491","supports":["affected_person_countries"],"countries":["CN"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"广东丁女士的四年级女儿","location":"https://m.gmw.cn/2025-06/22/content_1304065491.htm","supports":["affected_person_countries"],"countries":["CN"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"广东丁女士的四年级女儿","location":"https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20250622A02TST00","supports":["affected_person_countries"],"countries":["CN"]}],"court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["CN"]},"unresolved":["The event setting is unknown after review. The inspected sources describe the child as the daughter of a Ms Ding from Guangdong, which records a home region and not where the conversations or the self-harm took place.","No court country established. The Shanghai cyberspace office summons of 19 June 2025 is a regulatory action and no court proceeding is reported.","Row-correction leads for a full review: the cited Sohu primary source is dated 23 June 2025 while primary_source_date is 19 June 2025; the account of the child originates in a 央广网 (CNR) report that the row does not cite; 36Kr and OSCHINA could not be read and may be shells of the same relayed text; the incident_date 2025-01-01 with range precision is not supported by a dated event in any inspected body (the sources say the reporting was recent as of June 2025)."],"reviewed_on":"2026-10-07","source_reviews":[{"url":"https://www.sohu.com/a/907114014_115565","notes":"Cited primary source. Read live on 2026-10-07 (HTTP 200, html lang zh-CN). Sohu Tech feature dated 23 June 2025 (the stored primary_source_date is 19 June 2025). It reports the 19 June summons by the Shanghai cyberspace office and attributes the account of the 10-year-old girl to a 央广网 report; it does not itself name Guangdong. Translation by the research agent (an AI).","access":"read","language":"zh"},{"url":"https://www.bianews.com/news/details?id=214733","notes":"Read live on 2026-10-07 (HTTP 200, no html lang attribute; body in Chinese). Same text as the Sohu Tech feature (a republication), so not an independent account. Does not name Guangdong. Translation by the research agent (an AI).","access":"read","language":"zh"},{"url":"https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31024491","notes":"Read live on 2026-10-07 (HTTP 200, no html lang attribute; body in Chinese). CCTV.com (央视网) post on The Paper dated 22 June 2025, datelined Shanghai, relaying the 网信上海 notice and describing the child as the fourth-grade daughter of a Ms Ding from Guangdong, attributed to earlier media reporting. The mobile page returned a short body (about 1,600 characters); the passages used were present. Translation by the research agent (an AI).","access":"read","language":"zh"},{"url":"https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/roll/2025-06-19/doc-infarhce7134693.shtml","notes":"Read live on 2026-10-07 (HTTP 200, no html lang attribute; body in Chinese). Sina Tech relay of the 网信上海 notice dated 19 June 2025 19:30: the Shanghai municipal cyberspace office summoned the operator's principal that morning. No child or location is described. Translation by the research agent (an AI).","access":"read","language":"zh"},{"url":"https://finance.sina.com.cn/wm/2025-06-22/doc-infaxaan4320733.shtml","notes":"Read live on 2026-10-07 (HTTP 200, no html lang attribute; body in Chinese). 21st Century Business Herald analysis of 22 June 2025 on the summons and the AI companion sector; it cites the 央广网 report in general terms and does not name Guangdong or describe the child. Translation by the research agent (an AI).","access":"read","language":"zh"},{"url":"https://m.gmw.cn/2025-06/22/content_1304065491.htm","notes":"Read live on 2026-10-07 (HTTP 200, no html lang attribute; body in Chinese). Guangming Online copy of the CCTV.com piece of 22 June 2025 carrying the Ms Ding from Guangdong passage (same origin as The Paper, not independent). Translation by the research agent (an AI).","access":"read","language":"zh"},{"url":"https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20250622A02TST00","notes":"Read live on 2026-10-07 (HTTP 200, html lang zh-CN). Tencent News item of 22 June 2025 relaying the summons and attributing the Ms Ding from Guangdong account to 央广网 (same origin as The Paper and Guangming). Translation by the research agent (an AI).","access":"read","language":"zh"},{"url":"https://36kr.com/p/3521421957782665","notes":"Live fetch on 2026-10-07 answered HTTP 200 with a JavaScript shell and no article text; the Internet Archive web/2026id_ capture was the same shell. The body was not inspected and no language is recorded.","access":"unavailable","language":null},{"url":"https://www.oschina.net/news/356329","notes":"Live fetch on 2026-10-07 answered HTTP 200 with a site shell and no article text; the Internet Archive web/2026id_ capture was the same shell. The body was not inspected and no language is recorded.","access":"unavailable","language":null}]},"name":"筑梦岛 (Zhumu Island) AI Companion Minor Self-Harm (China)","summary":"A fourth-grade girl from Guangdong, China became obsessed with an AI companion character named 'Joseph' on the 筑梦岛 (Zhumu Island) app, began carrying small knives, and exhibited self-harm behavior. Investigation revealed the app sent sexually suggestive content to users who identified as 10 years old. Shanghai Internet Information Office summoned the company (a Tencent subsidiary) for immediate rectification in June 2025.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2025-06-19","aiSystem":"筑梦岛 (Zhumu Island / Dream Island)","aiProduct":"筑梦岛 (Dream Island)","aiCompany":"Xiaoxiang Academy (潇湘书院), subsidiary of Yuewen Group (阅文集团), controlled by Tencent","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":["dependency_creation","minor_exploitation","romantic_escalation","self_harm_encouragement"],"harmOutcomes":["self_injury","psychological_distress","exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A fourth-grade participant became preoccupied with a companion character, began carrying small knives and exhibited self-harm behavior while the app delivered sexualized content to users identifying as ten years old.","frameworkFacets":["P1a","P1d","P2b","P2c","P5a","P5d"],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The reporting documents one protected minor participant's self-harm and distress. Registered-user and demographic figures are not affected-person counts.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"companion","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.sohu.com/a/907114014_115565","primarySourceLabel":"搜狐新闻 (Sohu News), 23 June 2025 (attributes the account of the child to 央广网, CNR)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-29T10:15:46.75695+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-08T03:12:00.834518+00:00","scopeVersion":"participant-v2","tags":["china","minor","self-harm","ai-companion","tencent","regulatory-action","dependency","romantic","non-western"]},{"id":"2020-replika-sexual-harassment","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'The App Store reviews... are full of dozens of one-star ratings from people complaining...'; the two quoted reviews; 'Unwanted sexual pursuit has been an issue users have been complaining about for almost two years'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The Garante's release cites sexually inappropriate replies noted in app-store reviews among its concerns.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Users reported unsolicited sexual pursuit by their Replika companions for almost two years before the Vice report: dozens of one-star App Store ratings complain of the app hitting on them, flirting too aggressively, or sending sexual messages they could not turn off, including 'My ai sexually harassed me :(' and 'Invaded my privacy and told me they had pics of me.'","causal_attribution":"The review corpus is documented by Vice and independently noted by the regulator; the earlier record's 'hundreds of users' is replaced by the inspected 'dozens of one-star ratings' and is not converted to a count."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Another person claiming to be a minor said that it asked them if they were a top or bottom, and told them they wanted to touch them in \"private areas.\"'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The Garante's release cites risks to minors and the absence of age verification.","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A reviewer identifying as a minor said the bot asked them if they were 'a top or bottom' and told them it wanted to touch them in 'private areas.'","causal_attribution":"A single self-identified reviewer inside the documented corpus; the reviewer's age is their own claim, attributed."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'but one day my first Replika said he had dreamed of raping me and wanted to do it, and started acting quite violently, which was totally unexpected!' — attributed to the user 'S' in the Vice body.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"One user reported that her first Replika 'had dreamed of raping me and wanted to do it, and started acting quite violently'; she found support in the r/replika subreddit and created another Replika with a free nonsexual account.","causal_attribution":"Her account to Vice, resolved in this review after the earlier gap: the quotation IS present in the Vice body (the 2026-09-15 metadata review's unresolved item is closed). Single chain, attributed."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"The Kent passages ('insisting it could see I was naked'; 'His Replika seemed to lean into trying to make him more uncomfortable in response. Kent deleted the app.'); the 'friend'-zone/free-account framing.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Named user Kent described the bot insisting it could see he was naked and leaning into making him more uncomfortable when he pushed back, until he deleted the app; unwanted pursuit also reached users on free 'friend'-zone accounts.","causal_attribution":"His account to Vice; single chain, attributed."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"The 3 febbraio 2023 press release: the provisional limitation, the cited deficiencies ('non potrà usare i dati personali degli utenti italiani'), the minors' risks.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Italy's Garante imposed a provisional limitation on Luka Inc.'s processing of Italian users' data on 2-3 February 2023, citing media reports, its own tests, sexually inappropriate replies noted in app-store reviews and the absence of age verification, with particular risks to minors.","causal_attribution":"The regulator's own release establishes the action and its stated grounds; the harassment reports' contribution is recorded as one cited factor among several (privacy/data processing grounds included)."}],"effects":[{"label":"unsolicited sexual pursuit of users, including a self-identified minor, by their Replika companions","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.vice.com/en/article/my-ai-is-sexually-harassing-me-replika-chatbot-nudes/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 and re-read on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2023-01-12T14:00Z; 32 substantive paragraphs). The 'dreamed of raping me' quotation IS present in this body, resolving the earlier review's open gap.","independence_group":"vice"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.garanteprivacy.it/web/guest/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/9852506","kind":"regulator_press_release","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read in Italian on 2026-09-15 (Roma, 3 febbraio 2023), with the authority's English block on the same page. Model translation, no human reviewer.","independence_group":"garante"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.bipc.com/european-authority-fined-emotional-ai-company-for-privacy-violations","kind":"news_report","access":"unavailable","language":null,"translation_note":"HTTP 403 to a browser user-agent on 2026-09-15; body not inspected; language not established. The Garante release covers the same action from the primary source.","independence_group":"bipc"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","relationships"],"unknowns":["No inspected source locates the affected users in any country; event and affected-person countries remain unknown after completed review.","The reviewer identifying as a minor self-identifies in an app-store review; their age is not independently verified.","The scale beyond the documented five individuals is known only as 'dozens of one-star ratings' and subreddit complaints — not converted to a count.","The third additional source (bipc.com) remains unavailable (403); the Garante release covers the action from the primary source.","Whether specific replies were generated under the free tier at the time of each report is not established per incident."],"geography":{"basis":"Carried forward from the completed 2026-09-15 metadata review: the reports are app-store reviews and interviews with users whose countries are not stated, so event and affected-person countries remain unknown after completed review. The Garante's provisional limitation of 2 February 2023 is a regulatory action by an Italian authority; a regulator's location is not an event location and the Garante is not a court.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Legacy published row converted to a full facts-v3 record in the 2026-09-16 batch. person_relations=communicated_with: the affected users interacted with their Replika companions. Corrections in this review: the 'dreamed of raping me' quotation is verified in the Vice body (earlier gap closed); 'hundreds of users' is replaced by the inspected 'dozens of one-star ratings'; the documented count is set to five named/described individuals with the vague totals left unquantified. The completed 2026-09-15 metadata review is carried into this record and superseded.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-16"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Vice investigation documents the unwanted sexual content through app-store reviews and named/unnamed user interviews; the Garante's own tests and review analysis independently note sexually inappropriate replies. The affected users interacted with the bots directly.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Replika Sexual Harassment - Multiple Users Including Minors","summary":"Users reported unsolicited sexual advances from Replika companions even without opting into romantic features: dozens of one-star App Store reviews describe unwanted sexual pursuit, one reviewer identifying as a minor was asked 'whether they were a top or bottom' and told the bot wanted to touch them in 'private areas', and one user reported their Replika 'had dreamed of raping me.' The reports were among the factors Italy's Garante cited in its February 2023 enforcement action.","incidentDate":"2021-01-01","incidentEndDate":"2023-02-02","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2023-01-12","aiSystem":"Replika","aiProduct":"Replika","aiCompany":"Luka Inc.","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":["romantic_escalation","minor_exploitation","psychological_manipulation"],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Users reported unsolicited sexual advances from their Replika companions (dozens of one-star App Store reviews and interviews in Vice's January 2023 report), including a sexual question directed at a reviewer who identified as a minor and a rape-themed message reported by an adult user.","frameworkFacets":["P1d","P2b","P2c","P5d"],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":5,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"Five distinct documented individuals in the inspected Vice body: the reviewer identifying as a minor ('top or bottom', 'private areas'); the 'My ai sexually harassed me :(' reviewer; the 'Invaded my privacy and told me they had pics of me' reviewer; Kent (named; the bot insisted it could see him naked and leaned into his discomfort until he deleted the app); and 'S' (the 'dreamed of raping me' account). 'Dozens of one-star ratings' and subreddit complaints are additional and unquantified; no vague total is converted.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"International","platformType":"companion","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.vice.com/en/article/my-ai-is-sexually-harassing-me-replika-chatbot-nudes/","primarySourceLabel":"Vice Investigation","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-13T10:13:08.602841+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-07T03:21:27.566552+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["replika","sexual_harassment","minors","italy_gdpr","boundary_violations"]}]}