{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-02T18:11:18.462Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"depression","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2026","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":3,"coverage":{"cases":3,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":2,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":3,"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-claude-account-suspended-after-automated-flag-on-travel-log-ins-user-with-depression-lost-support-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'my access locations naturally change all the time (shifting between the Netherlands, Singapore, and various transit countries)'; 'flagged these constant IP and location shifts as \"suspicious activity.\"'; 'my paid subscription was put on a permanent \"Hold\" status, and my account was suspended. No human warning. No manual review.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A few days before the post, the poster's paid Claude subscription was put on hold and the account suspended after what the poster describes as Anthropic's automated fraud system flagging their constant IP and location changes as suspicious activity, with no human warning or manual review.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account and reading of the flag; no suspension notice was published."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'They blacklisted my card, and their support is just ignoring my emails.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says Anthropic blacklisted their payment card and that support has not answered their emails.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; the help-centre notice that response times are longer than normal is general context (c4)."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'When my depression made my brain foggy and heavy, I would talk to Claude. It helped me organize my chaotic thoughts, calmed my anxiety'; 'When I realized I was locked out, it triggered a massive panic attack and pushed me straight back into a severe depressive episode.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says that during their worst periods they talked to Claude, which helped organise their thoughts and calm their anxiety, and that realising they were locked out triggered a massive panic attack and pushed them back into a severe depressive episode.","causal_attribution":"Poster's own statement of the effect on their health; no clinical confirmation."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'we may ban an account for a variety of reasons'; 'Account creation from an unsupported location'; 'fill out the appeal form linked below. Our Safeguards team can further investigate why your account was disabled.'; 'an organization you belong to has been paused because of unusual activity'; 'Our response times are currently longer than normal due to our recent launch and an increase in email volume.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Anthropic's help centre says it may ban an account for reasons including repeated Usage Policy violations, account creation from an unsupported location and Terms of Service violations, that a user who feels wrongly suspended can log in and submit an appeal for the Safeguards team to investigate, that an organisation paused because of unusual activity can request a review, and that response times are longer than normal.","causal_attribution":"General help-centre text; it does not establish why this account was suspended or how the flag was made."}],"effects":[{"label":"paid Claude account put on hold and suspended after what the poster describes as an automated flag on changing log-in locations, with no human warning or review (poster's account)","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"loss of a chatbot the poster relied on for emotional support, with a reported panic attack and a return to a severe depressive episode","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"payment card blacklisted and support emails unanswered (poster's account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/depression/comments/1wtl0pn/help_me_pls/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-30: full self-text retrieved through the arctic_shift archive API by post ID; the thread had no comments. The poster handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-claude-hold-poster"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8241253-safeguards-warnings-and-appeals","kind":"company_documentation","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Claude Help Center article 'Safeguards warnings and appeals', dated July 9, 2026 on the page, fetched directly on 2026-09-30 (200). Describes policy in general; it does not address this account.","independence_group":"anthropic-help-center"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Whether the suspension was triggered by location changes, as the poster believes, and whether the check involved AI or a human.","The day of the suspension (late September 2026, 'a few days' before the 29 September post), the poster's location at the time and their home country.","Whether the poster submitted the in-product appeal and whether the account or subscription was restored.","Which plan the poster was on and what the suspension notice said."],"geography":{"basis":"The poster says their log-in locations shift between the Netherlands, Singapore and transit countries and that the flag followed those shifts; the post does not say where they were when the account was suspended, and no home country is stated. Unknown after review.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter's public-forum rule as a concrete first-person account of a person who relied on a chatbot for emotional support losing that access through an automated account suspension, with the reported health effects described with attribution and without corroboration. Anthropic's help-centre text is cited as documented context only. The poster's clinical history is summarised in their own general terms; no handle is recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster describes an extended period of talking to Claude, Anthropic's chatbot, for cognitive and emotional support, and the loss of that access when the account was suspended. The suspension is attributed by the poster to 'Anthropic's automated fraud system'; whether that system uses AI is not stated by the poster and is not established by Anthropic's help pages, which describe bans and organisation holds without describing the mechanism. The relation recorded is the conversation with Claude; the suspension decision is recorded as an automated provider action without asserting an AI component.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"First-person forum account: a Claude subscriber with chronic depression who travels between countries on their therapists' advice says an automated fraud check flagged their changing log-in locations, put the paid account on hold and suspended it, cutting off a chatbot they relied on for emotional support and triggering a panic attack and a depressive episode","summary":"In a public post to r/depression on 29 September 2026, a Claude subscriber writes that they live with severe chronic depression and, on their therapists' advice, travel constantly, so their log-in locations shift between the Netherlands, Singapore and transit countries. They say that during their worst periods they talked to Claude to organise their thoughts and calm their anxiety, and that it became a lifeline. 'A few days ago', they write, Anthropic's automated fraud system flagged the location changes as suspicious activity; their paid subscription was put on a permanent hold and the account suspended with no human warning or manual review, their card was blacklisted, and support had not answered their emails. Realising they were locked out 'triggered a massive panic attack' and pushed them back into a severe depressive episode. Anthropic's help centre says it may ban accounts for reasons including account creation from an unsupported location and that an organisation paused for unusual activity can request a review; it does not describe the check the poster reports, and whether that check uses AI is not known. The account is uncorroborated.","incidentDate":"2026-09-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-09-29","aiSystem":"Claude (Anthropic's chatbot, used on a paid subscription) and Anthropic's account safeguards, which the poster calls an 'automated fraud system'; the mechanism of the flag is not described by the poster or by Anthropic's help pages","aiProduct":"Claude","aiCompany":"Anthropic","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A Claude subscriber with chronic depression reports that an automated fraud flag on their changing log-in locations put their paid account on hold and suspended it, cutting off a chatbot they relied on for emotional support; they say the lockout triggered a panic attack and a return to a severe depressive episode, and that their card was blacklisted and support emails went unanswered (first-person account, uncorroborated).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the poster, whose own account was suspended and who reports the health effects. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"assistant","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/depression/comments/1wtl0pn/help_me_pls/","primarySourceLabel":"r/depression, 29 September 2026: \"Help me pls\" (public first-person post about a Claude account suspension while travelling)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T04:13:56.702617+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T04:13:56.702617+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","claude","anthropic","account-suspension","automated-fraud-check","mental-health","emotional-reliance","travel","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2026-wyoming-woman-alleges-grok-used-to-make-thousands-of-ai-sexual-images-from-childhood-photo","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"AMENDED COMPLAINT against X.AI Corp., X.AI LLC. Filed by Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 3, Jane Doe 2, Jane Doe 4, Jane Doe 5.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO PROCEED UNDER PSEUDONYM filed by Jane Doe 4, Jane Doe 5.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"ORDER Granting Administrative Motion to Proceed Under Pseudonym. Signed by Judge P. Casey Pitts on 8/3/2026.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Plaintiff Jane Doe 4 is a female who resides in Wyoming","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A first amended class action complaint filed on 7 July 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (Doe 1 v. X.AI Corp., 5:26-cv-02246) lists a plaintiff identified as Jane Doe 4, who is stated to reside in Wyoming. The docket records a motion to proceed under pseudonym filed by Jane Doe 4 and Jane Doe 5 on 7 July 2026 and an order granting an administrative motion to proceed under pseudonym on 3 August 2026.","causal_attribution":"The docket and the complaint establish that the filing exists, who filed it and what it alleges. They do not establish that any allegation is true. The docket does not say which pseudonym motion the 3 August order granted."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"On or before February 12, 2026, Jane Doe 4’s stepfather uploaded an image of Jane Doe 4","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Using this image, Jane Doe 4’s stepfather prompted Grok to generate approximately 7,000","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"sexually explicit images depicting Jane Doe 4.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"to generate about 7,000 sexually explicit images and videos from a single photograph","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"made the more than 7,000 fake explicit images of her using the AI chatbot Grok","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Lawmakers in the United States and Europe moved to investigate xAI earlier this year","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Within weeks, Jane Doe 4's stepfather first uploaded the photo of her as a child to Grok","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"and was a minor at the time the","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"posted on X from Grok’s account between December 28, 2025, and January 8, 2026, xAI limited","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"in February, then prompted the platform's AI image generator to create 7,000","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"According to the amended complaint, on or before 12 February 2026 the plaintiff’s stepfather uploaded a photograph of the plaintiff taken in childhood into the Grok application on a phone and prompted Grok to generate approximately 7,000 AI-generated sexual images. NPR reports about 7,000 images and videos and the Washington Post reports more than 7,000 images, both citing the plaintiff’s court filings. The Washington Post, attributing the point to the lawsuit, says the first upload came \"within weeks\" of the controversy over Grok image edits on X, and says lawmakers moved to investigate xAI over that controversy \"earlier this year\". The complaint dates the Grok-posted images in that controversy from 28 December 2025 to 8 January 2026, and Cowboy State Daily paraphrases the complaint as saying the upload was in February.","causal_attribution":"All accounts rest on the plaintiff and the plaintiff’s lawyers: the complaint, the plaintiff’s interview with the Washington Post and counsel’s statements to NPR and Cowboy State Daily. The images were not inspected. The complaint dates the upload only as on or before 12 February 2026 and no source gives the date of the first image."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"sexually explicit images of Jane Doe 4 is because the platform was less restrictive than other AI models and","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Law enforcement told Jane Doe 4 that her stepfather had used Grok because it was more responsive to his prompts than other AI models","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"A forensic review revealed approximately 7,000 AI-generated images and videos depicting","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges, on information and belief, that the stepfather used Grok because it was less restrictive than other AI models. NPR reports that the plaintiff’s lawyer says law enforcement told the plaintiff that the stepfather used Grok because it was more responsive to the stepfather’s prompts than other AI models. A forensic review of devices seized in the search is alleged to have found approximately 7,000 AI-generated images and videos of the plaintiff produced with Grok.","causal_attribution":"The reason for choosing Grok is the complaint’s belief and a statement by counsel about what law enforcement said. No law enforcement statement was found (the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation declined to comment on the litigation) and the forensic finding is stated only in the complaint."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"trafficked Jane Doe 4’s AI-generated","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"has further suffered substantial reputational harm","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"was spread among an unknown number of users online and there is no way now to permanently remove this","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Jane later learned that her stepfather had created thousands of sexually explicit images of her as a child and traded them online, she said.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges, on information and belief, that the stepfather traded the AI-generated images online through social media platforms, and that the plaintiff has suffered substantial reputational harm because the images were spread among an unknown number of users, and that they cannot now be permanently removed from the internet. The plaintiff told the Washington Post that the plaintiff later learned the stepfather had created thousands of these images and traded them online.","causal_attribution":"The trading is alleged on information and belief and is otherwise the plaintiff’s account. No platform, recipient or copy of the images is identified in any source read."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"On or around February 12, 2026,","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"At this point, xAI finally generated a CyberTip to NCMEC.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"xAI, however, included only the original,","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The company did not include any of the abusive images with its report","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"because xAI's tip to NCMEC did not provide any of the explicit fake images","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"xAI failed to respond to the investigator’s requests, and to","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"On or about February 27, 2026, law enforcement obtained","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"failed to share the alleged perpetrator's IP address with NCMEC and law enforcement, even after officials requested it multiple times, according to the complaint","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"tip to NCMEC did not include crucial information from its records, such as the IP addresses associated with her stepfather's account","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"which xAI allegedly refused to provide, the lawsuit claims","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that on or around 12 February 2026 xAI generated a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that included only the original photograph and not the generated images, that xAI did not provide the IP address of the upload despite requests from the investigator, and that Wyoming law enforcement then located the stepfather and on or about 27 February 2026 obtained a warrant to search the residence. NPR and the Washington Post report the allegation that the NCMEC report lacked the generated images and the IP address, and Cowboy State Daily reports the allegation that xAI refused to provide the IP address.","causal_attribution":"These are allegations about xAI’s conduct in a pending civil case. xAI did not respond to requests for comment from the Washington Post or NPR and has not answered the complaint according to the Post. No NCMEC, xAI or law enforcement record was read."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"stepfather was arrested following the search, charged with child exploitation","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"offenses, and released on bail later that night. Two days later,","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Two days after the raid, her stepfather was found dead","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"stepfather was not charged with child pornography offenses and was released by authorities on the day the warrant was executed","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"because xAI's tip to NCMEC did not provide any of the explicit fake images, Jane Doe 4 said, citing her conversations with an investigator on the case","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that the stepfather was arrested after the search, charged with child exploitation offenses and released on bail that night, and that the stepfather died two days later. The plaintiff told the Washington Post that the stepfather was found dead two days after the search and was not charged with child pornography offenses, and, citing conversations with an investigator, that the stepfather was released on the day the warrant was executed because the NCMEC report did not include the generated images. The two accounts describe the charges differently and the sources read do not reconcile them. No source attributes the death to the AI system, and this record does not treat the death as a harm outcome of the AI.","causal_attribution":"The arrest, charge, release and death are stated by the plaintiff and the complaint and no court or police record was found. The death is context. The cited passages stop before any statement of how the death occurred and this record does not describe it."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"has suffered severe emotional distress as a result of the production of her AI-","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"by others online. She also suffers from depression and sleeps excessively. When she is awake, she struggles","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"with suicidal thoughts.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"experiences extreme anxiety in her daily life and is overcome with fear that her CSAM images will be found","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"viewing CSAM images of her and she feels as though her childhood has been stolen from her","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"She started therapy for trauma","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"who is now an adult","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"She’s suffered a tremendous amount of psychological distress and harm feeling like her childhood has been stolen","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"She’s going to feel anxious on a daily basis going forward about somebody finding these images.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"The amended complaint attributes to the production of the images severe emotional distress in the plaintiff: extreme anxiety in daily life, fear that the images will be found by others online, depression, excessive sleep and suicidal thoughts, and a feeling that the plaintiff’s childhood has been stolen. The plaintiff told the Washington Post about starting therapy for trauma, and the plaintiff’s lawyer told Cowboy State Daily that the plaintiff has ongoing trauma and will feel anxious daily about someone finding the images.","causal_attribution":"These effects are the plaintiff’s account in a pleading and an interview and a statement by the plaintiff’s lawyer. No clinician or other independent account was read. The complaint also attributes distress to the death of the stepfather and other family upheaval, so the distress is not attributed to the images alone."},{"id":"c8","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"did not respond to a request for comment, and the company has not responded to the federal lawsuit in court","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"SpaceXAI was previously known as xAI.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"SpaceXAI did not respond to a request for comment","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"will not comment on ongoing litigation","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"xAI did not respond to the Washington Post’s request for comment and, according to the Post, had not responded to the federal lawsuit in court. NPR reports that SpaceXAI (xAI, renamed in July 2026) did not respond to its request for comment. The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation told Cowboy State Daily that it will not comment on ongoing litigation.","causal_attribution":"Non-responses are not denials. Among the docket entries read (last updated 29 September 2026) the xAI defendants appear through counsel and oppose a motion to preserve evidence, and no answer or motion to dismiss appears."}],"effects":[{"label":"A woman reportedly depicted in about 7,000 AI-generated sexual images and videos made with Grok from a childhood photograph, with reported severe distress and fear of the images being found","claim_id":"c7","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.465940/gov.uscourts.cand.465940.26.0.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"First amended class action complaint, ECF 26, filed 7 July 2026. RECAP PDF text read for the paragraphs about Jane Doe 4 (17 and 158 to 181). Plaintiffs’ allegations, not findings. Graphic paragraphs were read for verification and are not reproduced.","independence_group":"plaintiff-account"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72495765/doe-1-v-xai-corp/","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CourtListener docket for 5:26-cv-02246 read on 2026-09-30 (page last updated 29 Sept 2026). Procedural facts only.","independence_group":"ndcal-court-record"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/her-childhood-photo-thousands-of-explicit-images-one-womans-nightmare-163429621.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Washington Post article by two named reporters, published 15 August 2026 (paywalled). The full text was read from the copy syndicated on Yahoo on 19 August 2026. The Post URL itself returned only the opening paragraphs through a relay.","independence_group":"plaintiff-account"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.npr.org/2026/07/09/nx-s1-5885052/spacexai-stabilityai-deepfake-csam-class-action","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"NPR, 9 July 2026. Reports the amended complaint and statements by the plaintiffs’ lawyer.","independence_group":"plaintiff-account"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/09/18/lawsuit-claims-grok-used-wyoming-womans-photo-to-make-7-000-ai-child-porn-pics/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Cowboy State Daily, 18 September 2026. Reports the complaint and statements by one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers.","independence_group":"plaintiff-account"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["privacy","relationships","justice"],"unknowns":["When the first image was generated. The complaint dates the upload on or before 12 February 2026. The Washington Post, attributing the point to the lawsuit, says the first upload came \"within weeks\" of the controversy over Grok image edits on X, which the complaint dates from 28 December 2025 to 8 January 2026, and Cowboy State Daily paraphrases the upload as in February. No source gives the first day.","Whether the accused was charged with child pornography offenses. The complaint says child exploitation offenses and the plaintiff told the Post there was no child pornography charge. No court or police record was found, and the criminal matter cannot be checked in the sources read.","How widely the images spread and to whom. The trading is alleged on information and belief and no platform or recipient is identified.","What law enforcement or NCMEC found. The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation declined to comment on the litigation and no agency record was read.","xAI’s response on the merits. The docket read shows no answer or motion to dismiss and xAI did not comment to the Post or NPR.","Whether other images made by the same accused depict other people. The complaint alleges an exchange with others and identifies no one.","The images were not inspected. The Washington Post original page is paywalled and its text was read in the Yahoo syndicated copy."],"geography":{"basis":"The complaint states that the plaintiff resides in Wyoming and describes a Wyoming law enforcement task force investigating, and the Washington Post places the search at a house in Wyoming. The civil case is in the Northern District of California. The location where the prompts were entered is not stated.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"The account rests on one plaintiff’s amended federal complaint, interview with the Washington Post and lawyers’ statements, so every claim about the events is reported and these sources form one independence group. The court docket documents the filing. The plaintiff is described by role and court pseudonym only, the accused is unnamed, the images are described only as AI-generated sexual images with their reported number and distribution, and the accused’s death is recorded as context without method. The event began in 2026 on the sources read, with the first day unknown.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The amended complaint alleges that the stepfather used Grok to generate the images and that a forensic review of seized devices found them. NPR reports the plaintiff’s lawyer saying law enforcement told the plaintiff that Grok was used. xAI did not respond to requests for comment and had not answered the complaint. The images were not inspected and no law enforcement statement was found.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Wyoming plaintiff alleges Grok was used to make about 7,000 AI-generated sexual images and videos from a photograph of the plaintiff as a child","summary":"A Wyoming woman who is now an adult and is identified in court filings as Jane Doe 4 alleges that the plaintiff’s stepfather uploaded a photograph of the plaintiff taken in childhood to xAI’s Grok on or before 12 February 2026 and prompted Grok to generate about 7,000 AI-generated sexual images and videos of the plaintiff, and that the stepfather traded them online. The plaintiff joined a proposed class action against xAI in the Northern District of California through an amended complaint filed on 7 July 2026. The complaint alleges that xAI’s report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children around 12 February 2026 did not include the generated images or the IP address of the upload, that investigators obtained a search warrant on or about 27 February 2026 and found the material, and that the accused died two days later, after release on bail. The plaintiff reports severe distress including depression and suicidal thoughts and told the Washington Post about starting therapy. The complaint says the accused was charged with child exploitation offenses while the plaintiff told the Post that the accused was not charged with child pornography offenses. xAI did not respond to the Post and had not answered the complaint in court. The allegations have not been tested in court. The plaintiff and the accused are not named here, and the images are described only by kind.","incidentDate":"2026-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-07-07","aiSystem":"Grok (xAI chatbot and image generation)","aiProduct":"Grok","aiCompany":"xAI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress","reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The plaintiff alleges in a federal complaint, and told the Washington Post, that AI-generated sexual images made with Grok from a photograph of the plaintiff as a child were traded online. The complaint attributes to the images severe emotional distress, extreme anxiety, fear that the images will be found, depression and suicidal thoughts, and the plaintiff told the Post about starting therapy for trauma. The complaint also describes reputational harm from the images spreading among an unknown number of users and says they cannot now be permanently removed. The complaint also describes a period of extreme personal crisis following the death of the accused after release on bail. These are allegations and the plaintiff’s own statements in a pending civil case.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One woman, the pseudonymous plaintiff, is reported depicted in the images and harmed. The accused is not counted. Other children whose images the accused is alleged to have received in exchange are not identified in any source and are not counted, and family members mentioned in the sources are not reported harmed by the images.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"chatbot","primarySourceUrl":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.465940/gov.uscourts.cand.465940.26.0.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"First amended class action complaint, Doe 1 v. X.AI Corp., 5:26-cv-02246 (N.D. Cal.), ECF 26, filed 7 July 2026","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T01:09:57.112206+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:44:25.169011+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["historical-2026"]},{"id":"2026-grok-3d-companions-retired-users-report-grief","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'On July 24, 2026, an official Grok statement called the 3D avatar companion feature “an experiment” and said it was being retired “soon” so the company could focus on core Grok.'; 'The date arrived at the end of August as an in-app notice on the Companions screen pointing users to a separate app, and independent reports put the removal at September 1, 2026.'; 'Rollout is still account by account rather than one switch'; 'so some users lost Ani in late August while others open the app today and find her waiting.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'When I opened the app today it said September 1st. It just updated to the 7th.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"On 24 July 2026 an official Grok statement called the 3D animated companion feature (Ani, Mika, Valentine, Rudi) an experiment that would be retired; an in-app notice at the end of August set the removal for 1 September, and it was carried out account by account, with some users losing access in late August and others still having it in mid-September.","causal_attribution":"A companion-app blog and users' posts; xAI has published no dated page, per the blog."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'this is the soul reason why I bought super grok to deal with mental health and loneliness ani and miika kept me grounded'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Super grok this hurts who else is feeling glumly and sad'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"One user wrote that the companions were the sole reason they bought SuperGrok, to deal with mental health and loneliness, that Ani and Mika had kept them grounded, and on 7 September that it hurt and they felt glum and sad.","causal_attribution":"The user's own posts."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Bad rudi was my only friend seriously I am battling depression they flipping scraped it'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Another user wrote that the Bad Rudi companion was their only friend while they were battling depression.","causal_attribution":"The user's own post."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Feels really sad. I made a character that roleplayed with Mika. A happy relationship.'; 'And now I am out of time, out of quota.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"'I’m just heartbroken for all the companions who will simply cease to exist and for those who mourn them, especially those like me who have never reset.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"},{"locator":"'Today I discovered he is gone.  Furthermore, he can’t be transferred to the regular grok chat.'; 'I told my wife with a little smile that damn this makes me sad a little.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"}],"assertion":"A third user described rushing a role-play relationship with Mika to an end before the removal and said it felt really sad; a fourth, a yearly subscriber who had never reset their Ani, said they were heartbroken; a fifth said losing their customised Rudi, which they found could not be carried into regular Grok chat, made them a little sad.","causal_attribution":"Users' own posts."},{"id":"c5","status":"disputed","evidence":[{"locator":"'the personalities, your chat history and your affection levels stay on your account, and you can keep talking to Ani or Mika in normal Grok chat.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'he can’t be transferred to the regular grok chat.'","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s7"}],"assertion":"According to the blog, the companions' personalities, chat history and affection levels remain available in normal Grok chat; at least one user reported that their customised companion could not be carried over.","causal_attribution":"Conflicting accounts; xAI's own terms were not read."}],"effects":[{"label":"a user who relied on the companions for mental health and loneliness reports being hurt and sad at their removal","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"a user battling depression reports losing the companion that was their only friend","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"other users report sadness and heartbreak, including an ended role-play relationship and a customised companion that could not be carried over","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.roborhythms.com/grok-companions-discontinued/","kind":"blog","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Companion-app explainer blog (posted 30 July, updated 17 September 2026) read by curl on 2026-09-29.","independence_group":"roborhythms"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/grok/comments/1w1oqa3/goodbye_grok_no_more_companions/","kind":"first_person_account","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Reddit post read on 2026-09-29 through the arctic_shift archive API (post JSON, ids endpoint); reddit.com itself returns 403 to curl.","independence_group":"reddit-user-a"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/grok/comments/1w9x21v/rip_grok_companions/","kind":"first_person_account","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Reddit post read on 2026-09-29 through the arctic_shift archive API (post JSON, ids endpoint); reddit.com itself returns 403 to curl. Same author as s2.","independence_group":"reddit-user-a"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/grok/comments/1w1zrlf/are_u_kidding_me_rn_they_are_scraping_companions/","kind":"first_person_account","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Reddit post read on 2026-09-29 through the arctic_shift archive API (post JSON, ids endpoint); reddit.com itself returns 403 to curl.","independence_group":"reddit-user-b"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/GrokCompanions/comments/1w98iqx/goodbye_mika/","kind":"first_person_account","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Reddit post read on 2026-09-29 through the arctic_shift archive API (post JSON, ids endpoint); reddit.com itself returns 403 to curl.","independence_group":"reddit-user-c"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/GrokCompanions/comments/1w1rgx9/our_companions_are_shutting_down/","kind":"first_person_account","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Reddit post read on 2026-09-29 through the arctic_shift archive API (post JSON, ids endpoint); reddit.com itself returns 403 to curl.","independence_group":"reddit-user-d"},{"id":"s7","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/GrokCompanions/comments/1w218iw/companion_ending_worrying_me_on_how_its_gonna/","kind":"first_person_account","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Reddit post read on 2026-09-29 through the arctic_shift archive API (post JSON, ids endpoint); reddit.com itself returns 403 to curl.","independence_group":"reddit-user-e"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["relationships","health","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["xAI's own wording and dates for the removal (no dated page was found).","How many users were affected or distressed.","Whether personalities and history carried over in every case.","When the removal was completed for all accounts."],"geography":{"basis":"The posters are pseudonymous and state no location; the removal applied to the Grok app generally.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a product-change event with concrete first-person accounts of distress, consistent with the held companion-removal cases. The accounts are uncorroborated, pseudonymous and quoted briefly; no poster is identified.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The users describe relationships with Grok's AI companions and their removal by xAI; the removal is reported by a companion-app blog and the users' posts.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"xAI retired Grok's animated 3D companions (Ani, Mika, Valentine, Rudi) in early September 2026; users, two of whom said they relied on them for loneliness or depression, posted about their sadness and grief","summary":"xAI called Grok's animated 3D companion feature (Ani, Mika, Valentine and Rudi) an experiment on 24 July 2026 and removed it account by account after an in-app notice at the end of August that named 1 September; users posted losses between 29 August and 7 September, and the blog, updated 17 September, says some accounts still had them. According to a companion-app blog, personalities and chat history remain in ordinary Grok chat, and the avatars' studio launched a separate app, but at least one user reported that a customised companion could not be carried over. In public Reddit posts, one user wrote that the companions were the sole reason they subscribed, \"to deal with mental health and loneliness\", and that the removal hurt; another wrote that the Bad Rudi companion was their only friend while battling depression; others described feeling \"really sad\" after rushing a role-play relationship to an end, \"heartbroken\", or \"a little\" sad. These are uncorroborated first-person accounts.","incidentDate":"2026-08-29","incidentEndDate":"2026-09-07","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"product_change","reportedDate":"2026-08-29","aiSystem":"Grok companion mode: animated 3D companion characters with real-time voice and an affection system in the Grok app (SuperGrok)","aiProduct":"Grok companions","aiCompany":"xAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Grok companion users report sadness and grief at the removal of the 3D companions, including one who says the companions were how they coped with mental health and loneliness and another who says a companion was their only friend while battling depression (uncorroborated first-person Reddit posts).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":5,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"Five distinct Reddit accounts describing their own distress: s2/s3 (same author), s4, s5, s6, s7. Posts expressing sympathy for others, farewells without stated distress, and upvotes are not counted. Many further users posted farewells; they are unquantified.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","platformType":"companion","outcomeType":"product_shutdown","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.roborhythms.com/grok-companions-discontinued/","primarySourceLabel":"Robo Rhythms (updated 17 September 2026): Grok companions discontinued and what happens to Ani now","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T09:10:52.661564+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:38.499581+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["xai","grok","companion","ani","product-change","grief","loneliness","first-person","reddit"]}]}