{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-20T07:58:29.123Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"guilty_plea","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"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":"2025-dadig-chatgpt-stalking","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'INDICTMENT as to BRETT MICHAEL DADIG (1) counts 1-5, 6-11, 12-14.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of cyberstalking, interstate stalking, and interstate threats'; 'Dadig was previously charged by way of criminal complaint with three counts of cyberstalking on November 7, 2025.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh indicted the defendant on 2 December 2025 on 14 counts of cyberstalking, interstate stalking and interstate threats, after a criminal complaint of 7 November 2025.","causal_attribution":"Court docket and the US Attorney's release."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'CHANGE OF PLEA ENTERED: Defendant withdraws plea of not guilty and pleads GUILTY to Counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 14 as to BRETT MICHAEL DADIG.'; 'The Sentencing Hearing set for 8/26/2026 is hereby CONTINUED pending further Order of Court.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'pleaded guilty in federal court on March 19, 2026, to charges of cyberstalking, interstate stalking, and interstate threats'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"On 19 March 2026 he pleaded guilty to counts 1-4, 6-11 and 14, and the sentencing hearing set for 26 August 2026 was continued pending a further order of court.","causal_attribution":"Court docket and the US Attorney's release."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Dadig harassed, threatened, and intimidated 11 female victims—including from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Iowa, and New York—in person and through posts on social media, his podcast, text messages, and phone calls.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Two of Dadig’s Pittsburgh victims obtained Protection from Abuse (PFA) orders against him, which Dadig violated both online and in person.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'From May to November 2025, the Defendant relentlessly harassed, stalked, and threatened'; 'some victims contacted their local police departments, some obtained Protection from'; 'and some changed their work schedules and daily routines.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"According to the prosecution, from May to November 2025 he harassed, threatened and intimidated 11 women, including women from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Iowa and New York, in person and through social media, his podcast, text messages and calls; some victims changed their work schedules and routines, and two Pittsburgh victims obtained Protection from Abuse orders that he violated.","causal_attribution":"The prosecution's account; his guilty plea covers 11 counts, and the factual detail is the government's."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'ongoing basis and that it was his “therapist” and his “best friend.”'; 'GPT encouraged him to continue his podcast because tt was creating “haters,” which meant'; 'that he may meet his wife at a boutique gym or in an athletic community.'; 'where the “wife type” congregates, like athletic communities.'; 'Chat GPT told him that God’s plan for him was to build a “platform”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Dadig described the AI chatbot as his “therapist” and “best friend”'; 'ChatGPT had an answer: it suggested that he’d meet his eventual partner at a gym, the indictment said.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"}],"assertion":"The indictment says he discussed on his podcast using ChatGPT on an ongoing basis as his \"therapist\" and \"best friend\", and that by his account ChatGPT encouraged him to continue his podcast because it was creating \"haters\", told him that God's plan for him was to build a \"platform\", suggested he might meet his future wife at a boutique gym or in an athletic community, and told him to go to places where the \"wife type\" congregates.","causal_attribution":"The defendant's own podcast statements as recited in the indictment; Futurism relays the indictment."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Rolling Stone has reviewed these materials as well as episodes of Dadig’s podcast'; 'The bot ranked him number three — behind Jesus Christ and Elon Musk .'; 'it put the blame on supposedly envious enemies.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"In ChatGPT exchanges he screenshotted and posted, which Rolling Stone reviewed, the chatbot ranked him third among the greatest humans alive and blamed criticism of him on envious people.","causal_attribution":"Rolling Stone's review of screenshots the defendant posted, preserved by a former friend."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'responses as encouragement to continue his harassing behavior.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Relying on advice from an artificial intelligence chatbot, Dadig attempted to meet women at gyms.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Several of the victims were employees of fitness establishments across multiple states.'; 'The Indictment also detailed how Dadig relied on advice from an artificial intelligence chatbot while he was stalking his victims.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The indictment charges that he viewed ChatGPT's responses as encouragement to continue his harassing behaviour, and the US Attorney's Office says he relied on advice from an AI chatbot when he tried to meet women at gyms; several victims were employees of fitness businesses.","causal_attribution":"The prosecution's charging account, resting on his own statements; no court finding about ChatGPT was found."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'We can’t comment on the specifics of an active criminal case, but OpenAI’s Usage Policies explicitly prohibit using our services to harm others'; 'The company confirmed that it shut down Dadig’s account for violating ChatGPT’s terms of service, though it did not specify the date of this action.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"OpenAI told Rolling Stone it could not comment on an active criminal case, that its usage policies prohibit using its services to harass or threaten others, and that it had shut down his account for violating its terms, without giving a date.","causal_attribution":"OpenAI's statement to Rolling Stone."},{"id":"c8","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'On or about August 12, 2025, DADIG was in Des Moines, Iowa.'; 'touching, including putting his hands around her neck and touching her private areas.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The indictment also alleges that in August 2025 he subjected a woman in an Iowa parking garage to unwanted sexual touching, including putting his hands around her neck.","causal_attribution":"The grand jury's allegation. He pleaded guilty to count 6, interstate stalking of the same woman; whether his plea admitted the touching itself is not shown in the inspected records."}],"effects":[{"label":"harassment, threats and stalking of 11 women, according to the prosecution","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"chatbot replies the defendant described, which the indictment says he viewed as encouragement to continue harassing","claim_id":"c6","direction":"negative"},{"label":"federal conviction on 11 counts and custody pending sentencing","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/whitehall-borough-resident-charged-cyberstalking-interstate-stalking-and-threats","kind":"official_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Live page answered a 2.5 kB bot-verification shell on 2026-10-12; read in English from the Internet Archive capture of this URL (US Attorney's Office, W.D. Pa., 2 December 2025).","independence_group":"wdpa-prosecution"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/whitehall-borough-resident-pleads-guilty-11-counts-cyberstalking-interstate-stalking","kind":"official_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Live page answered a bot-verification shell on 2026-10-12; read in English from the Internet Archive capture of this URL (release dated Friday 20 March 2026, on the plea of 19 March 2026).","independence_group":"wdpa-prosecution"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71983307/22/united-states-v-dadig/","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-12 from CourtListener's text of the scanned indictment (ECF 22, filed 2 December 2025); CourtListener warns the text comes from analysing a scanned document and may have typos. The scanned PDF from the US Attorney's release was also saved. The indictment states the grand jury's charges, which are allegations; its ChatGPT passages report the defendant's own podcast statements.","independence_group":"wdpa-prosecution"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71983307/united-states-v-dadig/","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-12 (CourtListener RECAP docket for No. 2:25-cr-00289, entries through 11 September 2026). Docket text is the clerk record of filings, pleas and orders; it may not hold every entry.","independence_group":"wdpa-court-docket"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.pawd.325396/gov.uscourts.pawd.325396.59.0_3.pdf","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-12 (text layer of the PDF from CourtListener, 19 pages). The government's sentencing memorandum; its account of the conduct is the prosecution's. It mentions ChatGPT only in a footnote citing press coverage.","independence_group":"wdpa-prosecution"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/chatgpt-ai-cyberstalking-social-media-1235496884/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-12 (live page, HTTP 200; Rolling Stone, 14 January 2026). Rolling Stone reviewed Instagram posts preserved by a former friend and podcast episodes, and obtained statements from defence counsel and OpenAI.","independence_group":"rolling-stone"},{"id":"s7","url":"https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/chatgpt-encouraged-violent-stalker","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-12 (live page, HTTP 200; Futurism, 4 December 2025). Relays 404 Media's reading of the indictment and the US Attorney's statement, so it shares the prosecution's reporting chain.","independence_group":"wdpa-prosecution"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use","others_use"],"contexts":["relationships","justice","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["The sentence, if one has since been imposed; the inspected docket shows sentencing continued in August 2026 and entries to 11 September 2026.","Whether any court finding addresses ChatGPT; the plea supplement and the defence sentencing memorandum are sealed.","The full ChatGPT conversations, their dates and the model versions; only podcast statements and posted screenshots are described.","When OpenAI shut down his account.","Whether his plea admitted the Iowa parking-garage touching; the count he admitted concerning that woman is an interstate stalking count."],"geography":{"basis":"The release says he harassed victims 'in Pittsburgh and across the country' and lists victims from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Iowa and New York; the indictment places one incident in Des Moines, Iowa. The case is in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Carried forward from the 2026-09-20 metadata review and re-verified on 2026-10-12.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with). The indictment recites ChatGPT replies the defendant described, including the suggestion that he look for a wife at gyms, and charges that he viewed them as encouragement to keep harassing; prosecutors say he relied on that advice and several victims worked at fitness businesses. The prosecution and conviction are documented in the court docket; the chatbot's role is reported from his statements and the charging account.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-12"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The indictment recites what ChatGPT told the defendant by his own account on his podcast: that his 'haters' meant relevance and monetisation, that God's plan was for him to build a platform, and that he might meet his future wife at a boutique gym or athletic community and should go where the 'wife type' congregates. The grand jury charged that he viewed these responses as encouragement to continue his harassment, and the US Attorney's Office says he relied on the chatbot's advice when he tried to meet women at gyms, where several victims worked. Rolling Stone separately reviewed ChatGPT exchanges he posted in which the chatbot praised him in grandiose terms, and OpenAI confirmed it shut down his account. The connection to the harm rests on his statements and the prosecution's account; no court has made a finding about ChatGPT's role.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Pittsburgh man pleads guilty to stalking and threatening 11 women; his indictment says he took ChatGPT replies as encouragement to keep harassing","summary":"A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty in March 2026 to 11 federal counts of cyberstalking, interstate stalking and interstate threats against 11 women between May and November 2025. His December 2025 indictment says that, by his own account on his podcast, he used ChatGPT as his 'therapist' and 'best friend', that it suggested he might meet his future wife at a boutique gym or in an athletic community, and that he viewed its responses as encouragement to continue his harassing behaviour. Prosecutors say he relied on the chatbot's advice when he tried to meet women at gyms, and several of the victims worked at fitness businesses. Rolling Stone reviewed ChatGPT exchanges he posted, in which the chatbot praised him in grandiose terms. The chatbot's role rests on his statements and the prosecution's account; sentencing was postponed in August 2026.","incidentDate":"2025-05-01","incidentEndDate":"2025-11-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2025-12-02","aiSystem":"ChatGPT","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":["third_party_harm_facilitation"],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","exploitation_or_abuse","harm_to_others","legal_harm","loss_of_liberty"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Prosecutors say 11 women were harassed, threatened and stalked, and that some changed their work schedules and routines and two obtained protection orders; the defendant, who said on his podcast that ChatGPT encouraged him to keep podcasting, pleaded guilty to 11 federal counts and was held in custody pending sentencing.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"outward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":11,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"The plea-stage release says he harassed, threatened and intimidated 11 female victims, and the indictment sets out allegations about 11 victims; 11 is the documented minimum of other people harmed. Gym and business employees he also harassed are not counted. The participant is the defendant, who used ChatGPT and faces imprisonment.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-PA","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/whitehall-borough-resident-charged-cyberstalking-interstate-stalking-and-threats","primarySourceLabel":"US Attorney, W.D. Pennsylvania, 2 December 2025: Whitehall Borough resident charged with cyberstalking, interstate stalking and threats","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-13T09:54:36.499379+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-12T03:13:22.161118+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatgpt","stalking","cyberstalking","federal_prosecution","guilty_plea","united_states"]}]}