{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-23T08:57:19.830Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"murder","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":7,"coverage":{"cases":7,"countries":3,"languages":2,"unknownLocation":2,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":3,"regulatory":2,"minors":0,"coreRelations":5,"contextualRelations":1,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":1,"relationPending":1,"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-aarons-chatgpt-fabricated-testimony-sanction","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1a","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"Order passages quoted by Ars: contempt, $5,000 to the Client Protection Fund in 30 days, referral.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Reuters wire: 'on Sept 9' — fine, contempt, referral, and the Sandoval caption.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"ABA Journal, 24 Aug: the $5,000 contempt anticipated from the 21 Aug show-cause hearing (pre-order; advance reporting, context only).","relation":"context","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"By written order of 9 September 2026, the New Mexico Supreme Court held Stephen Aarons in direct contempt, fined him $5,000 payable to the State Bar Client Protection Fund within 30 days, and referred him to the disciplinary board.","causal_attribution":"The contempt, fine and referral are quoted by Ars Technica and confirmed by the Reuters wire; the ABA Journal's hearing-day account anticipated but could not confirm the later written order. The order PDF itself was not retrieved in this review."},{"id":"c1b","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Ars: removal, bar pending referral, briefs struck, reassignment (Kim Chavez Cook appointed 2 Sep).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The order also removed Aarons from the case, barred him from appearing before the court pending the disciplinary-board referral, struck the filed briefs and reassigned the appeal to the public defender (Kim Chavez Cook, appointed 2 September 2026).","causal_attribution":"Single-chain detail from Ars Technica's account of the order; the Reuters wire does not carry these elements."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"Ars passages: Rev.com transcript plus record into ChatGPT (o3); the named fabricated witnesses and false attributions; the admission of non-verification.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"ABA Journal: 'admits stupidity over AI errors' at the show-cause hearing.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Reuters headline account: 'ChatGPT invented fake police testimony in murder appeal, New Mexico high court says'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Aarons used ChatGPT (OpenAI o3) on a Rev.com transcript and the case record to draft the brief, which contained fabricated witnesses and testimony — officers 'Michelle Amarillo' and 'Sanchez', Manal Al-Jibury, Teresa Marquez, and false testimony attributed to Danny and Linda Stanton and Mariah Chavez — and misdescribed real precedents; he admitted at the hearing that he had not verified the output.","causal_attribution":"The fabrication and the admission are established by the attorney's own statements at the hearing and the court's findings as reported; no source reports a denial."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Ars: substitution of the public defender (Kim Chavez Cook, appointed 2 Sep); the court's remark about the client.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The client, Oscar Renee Sandoval, suffers a delayed appeal: the briefs were struck, Aarons was removed, and the public defender was substituted (appointed 2 September 2026); the court told Aarons 'your client is the one suffering'.","causal_attribution":"Single-chain detail from Ars Technica's account of the order; the delay's length is not stated."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Reuters wire via Straits Times: Sandoval caption, life sentence February 2025, Doña Ana County.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Ars: brief filed ~Aug 2025; State's motion to strike weeks later.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The underlying case is the murder appeal of Oscar Renee Sandoval, sentenced to life in February 2025 in Doña Ana County for killing his partner Shiereen Al-Jibury; the brief was filed around August 2025 and the State moved to strike weeks later.","causal_attribution":"Background context, attributed to the wire and Ars; the docket number was not confirmed in this review."}],"effects":[{"label":"attorney sanctioned for ChatGPT-fabricated testimony; client's appeal delayed","claim_id":"c1a","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/chatgpt-using-lawyer-punished-for-citing-fake-testimony-from-made-up-witnesses/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (11 Sep 2026, Brodkin). Quotes the 9 September order and the 21 August hearing; names the fabricated witnesses.","independence_group":"ars"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/chatgpt-invented-fake-police-testimony-in-murder-appeal-new-mexico-high-court-says","kind":"wire_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (11 Sep 2026); Straits Times carrying the Reuters wire.","independence_group":"reuters"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/criminal-defense-attorney-admits-stupidity-over-ai-errors-but-still-receives-sharp-rebuke-from-his-states-high-court","kind":"trade_press","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (24 Aug 2026). Post-hearing report citing the Santa Fe New Mexican; the fine and contempt were anticipated from the hearing, not yet the written order.","independence_group":"aba-journal"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["work","justice"],"unknowns":["The 9 September 2026 order PDF was not directly inspected (nmcourts.gov search empty; form-based case lookup); the claims about it rest on two chains quoting it.","The underlying docket number is unconfirmed.","The disciplinary-board process and its outcome are pending.","The full set of fabricated or misdescribed citations beyond the named examples is not reported.","The ChatGPT product tier and whether the firm had verification policies are not reported."],"geography":{"basis":"Events: Santa Fe, New Mexico practice and the Doña Ana County murder case. Affected persons: the attorney and his client, both in New Mexico. Court: New Mexico Supreme Court.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an own-use, work-context adverse consequence with a dated, quantified sanction and an admitted, judicially found AI link. This applies the charter's individual-review rule to the AI-sanction class; the retired ordinary_task_failure gate and a class-level ruling are not required. Aarons is a public officer of the court sanctioned by a public order and is named; his client's name appears in the public caption of the appeal. In a 2026-09-15 second pass the original compound first claim was split: the corroborated contempt/fine/referral stand as c1a, and the Ars-only order elements (removal, bar, struck briefs, reassignment) stand as reported c1b. person_relations recorded in the same pass.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-15"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The AI link is admitted and judicially found: Aarons fed a Rev.com transcript and the record into ChatGPT (OpenAI o3), and the court's order addresses the fabricated content in the filed brief; he admitted at the show-cause hearing that he had not verified the output.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"New Mexico Supreme Court fines attorney Stephen Aarons $5,000 and removes him from a murder appeal over ChatGPT-fabricated testimony","summary":"Santa Fe defense attorney Stephen Aarons used ChatGPT (OpenAI's o3) on a Rev.com transcript and the record to draft briefing in the murder appeal of Oscar Renee Sandoval; the brief contained fabricated witnesses and testimony (including police officers 'Michelle Amarillo' and 'Sanchez' and invented testimony attributed to real people) and misdescribed real precedents. After a 21 August 2026 show-cause hearing at which Aarons admitted he had not verified the output, the New Mexico Supreme Court's written order of 9 September 2026 held him in direct contempt, fined him $5,000 payable to the State Bar Client Protection Fund within 30 days, removed him from the case, barred him from appearing before the court pending a disciplinary-board referral, struck the filed briefs and reassigned the appeal to the public defender.","incidentDate":"2025-08-01","incidentEndDate":"2026-09-09","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-08-24","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (OpenAI o3)","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","legal_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A dated, quantified professional sanction for the attorney who relied on ChatGPT's output: $5,000 fine, direct-contempt finding, removal from the case, a bar on appearing before the court pending a disciplinary-board referral, and struck briefs; his client's appeal is delayed as a result.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"established","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two documented harmed people. The user: Aarons, sanctioned (court order reported by Ars Technica and Reuters). Another person's use consequence: his client Sandoval, whose appeal is delayed by the struck briefs and the substitution of counsel (Ars quotes the court's 'your client is the one suffering'). No further harmed persons are reported; the victim's family is not counted (no harm to them is reported).","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/chatgpt-using-lawyer-punished-for-citing-fake-testimony-from-made-up-witnesses/","primarySourceLabel":"Ars Technica (11 Sep 2026) — quotes the 9 Sep order and the 21 Aug show-cause hearing","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-15T06:16:05.506355+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:22.660417+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["work","justice","legal-profession","sanction","fabricated-citations","chatgpt","own-use","new-mexico"]},{"id":"2025-keene-v-google-ai-overview-defamation","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Opinion page 2 lists Overviews 1–4 separately: 1, 2 and 4 concern life without parole; 2 mentions murders of three women; 3 says he was convicted of drug trafficking. The analysis of Overview 3 and conclusion explain its substantial-truth dismissal.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Complaint excerpt: statements that he 'is serving a life sentence without parole for multiple convictions' and 'for the murders of 3 women'.","relation":"context","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The court’s opinion recounts four challenged Google AI Overviews between approximately 24 May and 27 June 2025. The complaint alleges that Overviews 1, 2 and 4 falsely said Keene was serving life without parole, with Overview 2 adding murders of three women. Overview 3 instead said he had been convicted of drug trafficking; the court considered that statement substantially true.","causal_attribution":"Allegations of the complaint as recited by the court; accepted as true only for the motion to dismiss."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Page 2: 'Keene complained to Google about the false statements on three occasions ... Google allegedly apologized ... and deemed the statements errors made by its Artificial Intelligence.' and 'AI Overviews 1 and 2 were seen by various family members, friends, and acquaintances.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Complaint excerpt: 27 May 2025 complaint; Google 'privately apologized', attributing the statements to 'an unknown error made by their Artificial Intelligence Platform'.","relation":"context","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges he notified Google on 27 May, 31 May and after 27 June 2025, that Google apologised each time and attributed the statements to errors by its AI, and that Overviews 1 and 2 were seen by family members, friends and acquaintances.","causal_attribution":"Allegations as recited by the court."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Pages 1 and 12: 'that motion is granted in part and denied in part' ... 'the Court denies Google's motion to dismiss AI Overviews 1 and 2, and grants Google's motion to dismiss AI Overviews 3 and 4 without prejudice. Keene may file an amended complaint by October 13, 2026.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Docket entry 29, 14 September 2026: 'Memorandum Opinion and Order AND Order on Motion to Dismiss'.","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Post quoting the opinion's actual-malice and disclaimer holdings.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 14 September 2026 Judge Thomas M. Durkin denied Google's motion to dismiss the defamation per se claim as to Overviews 1 and 2, holding that the plaintiff, a public figure, had plausibly pleaded actual malice through his three notifications, and dismissed the claims on Overviews 3 (substantially true) and 4 (publication not alleged) without prejudice, with leave to amend by 13 October 2026.","causal_attribution":"Court ruling on the pleadings; no finding of liability."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Page 2: 'Keene filed his complaint ... on July 30, 2025, in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Google removed the suit to federal court on September 22, 2025.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Docket header: filed 22 September 2025, No. 1:25-cv-11431.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The suit was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County on 30 July 2025 and removed by Google to federal court on 22 September 2025.","causal_attribution":"Procedural history from the court record."}],"effects":[{"label":"reputational_harm_from_false_ai_statements","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.486629/gov.uscourts.ilnd.486629.29.0.pdf","kind":"court_opinion","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Memorandum Opinion and Order, ECF No. 29, filed 14 September 2026; PDF read in full via CourtListener RECAP on 2026-09-15.","independence_group":"court-record"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71417738/keene-v-google-llc/","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Public docket page read on 2026-09-15.","independence_group":"court-record"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://reason.com/volokh/2026/09/14/federal-court-allows-libel-by-ai-claim-brought-by-protagonist-of-apple-tvs-black-bird-series-to-go-forward/","kind":"legal_commentary","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read on 2026-09-15; quotes the opinion.","independence_group":"court-record"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://reason.com/volokh/2025/09/23/from-prison-to-helping-the-fbi-to-an-apple-tv-miniseries-to-google-hallucinated-libel/","kind":"legal_commentary","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read on 2026-09-15; quotes the complaint at removal.","independence_group":"court-record"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","privacy","justice"],"unknowns":["The plaintiff's residence and the locations where the Overviews were generated or viewed are not stated in the inspected records.","No damages figure appears in the inspected records.","The complaint exhibits (screenshots of the Overviews) were not inspected.","The case continues; an amended complaint was due by 13 October 2026."],"geography":{"basis":"The AI Overviews were generated online in response to searches; where they were generated or viewed is not stated. The plaintiff's residence is not stated in the inspected records, and the charter does not infer a country from the court. Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, after removal from the Circuit Court of Cook County.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published on the strength of the court's own opinion and docket, read in full, with legal commentary as context. The plaintiff is a public figure who sued under his own name; allegations are attributed to the complaint and the ruling is limited to the pleadings.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-15"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The statements at issue appeared in Google's AI Overviews, and the court's opinion recites the allegation that Google attributed them to errors by its artificial intelligence. The screenshots are exhibits to the complaint and were not inspected here; the court accepted the allegations as true for the motion to dismiss only.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"Keene v. Google: defamation claim over AI Overviews calling an author a convicted murderer survives dismissal","summary":"An author and television producer, the subject of the Apple TV series 'Black Bird', sued Google, alleging that AI Overviews shown for searches about him in May and June 2025 falsely said he was serving a life sentence without parole, in one version for the murders of three women. He says he notified Google three times and received apologies attributing the statements to its AI, yet similar statements kept appearing. On 14 September 2026 the Northern District of Illinois denied Google's motion to dismiss as to two of the four challenged Overviews and dismissed the other two without prejudice. This was a ruling on the pleadings, not a finding that the allegations were proven.","incidentDate":"2025-05-24","incidentEndDate":"2025-06-27","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-09-23","aiSystem":"Google AI Overviews","aiProduct":"Google AI Overviews","aiCompany":"Google LLC","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The plaintiff alleges that false AI-generated statements that he was a convicted murderer serving life without parole were shown to searchers, including family, friends and acquaintances, and continued after he notified Google.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person is the subject of the alleged defamatory statements and the plaintiff (court opinion). Family and acquaintances who saw the statements are not counted as harmed.","victimAgeRange":"adult","outcomeType":"lawsuit_ongoing","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.486629/gov.uscourts.ilnd.486629.29.0.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Memorandum Opinion and Order, Keene v. Google LLC, No. 25 C 11431 (N.D. Ill. 14 September 2026), ECF No. 29, via CourtListener RECAP","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-15T03:23:44.732123+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:07.683768+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["defamation","ai-overviews","google","hallucination","lawsuit","reputational-harm"]},{"id":"2025-roberts-deepseek-matricide-wales","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"death","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraphs 1 and 6.","relation":"supports","source_id":"judgment"}],"assertion":"The court found that the defendant murdered his mother early on 24 October 2025 after an attack beginning late on 23 October.","causal_attribution":"The murder is established; this finding does not establish chatbot causation."},{"id":"interaction","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Passages introducing the prosecutor’s account and describing the initial refusal and changed framing.","relation":"supports","source_id":"report"}],"assertion":"Court reporting attributes to the prosecutor an account that DeepSeek refused a violent request before answering a fictional reframing.","causal_attribution":"This evidence does not establish that AI caused the death."},{"id":"family_harm","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraph 9.","relation":"supports","source_id":"judgment"}],"assertion":"The judge described severe anguish and trauma to the victim’s family.","causal_attribution":"Documents harm from the murder; the AI connection remains separately attributed."},{"id":"sentence","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraph 1 and section “The sentence”.","relation":"supports","source_id":"judgment"}],"assertion":"The defendant pleaded guilty and received a life sentence in March 2026.","causal_attribution":"Records the legal outcome; it is not counted as an additional AI harm to the offender."}],"effects":[{"label":"The court found that the defendant murdered his mother early on 24 October 2025 after an attack beginning late on 23 October.","claim_id":"death","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"judgment","url":"https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026-March-Mold-ROBERTS-Murder-Sent.pdf","kind":"judicial_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English; no translation. Sentencing remarks inspected, especially paragraphs 1–10 and sentence. The document does not mention AI or DeepSeek.","independence_group":"roberts_court"},{"id":"report","url":"https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/ai-killer-33661486","kind":"court_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English; no translation. Full court report inspected. AI passages are expressly the prosecution’s account; graphic and identifying detail is not reproduced.","independence_group":"roberts_court"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["justice","public_safety"],"unknowns":["The full chatbot transcript was not inspected.","A separate independent source confirming the AI connection was not established; the judgment is silent on it.","The relative influence of chatbot advice and the defendant’s pre-existing intent is unresolved."],"geography":{"basis":"The judgment places the attack, the victim’s residence and the sentencing court in Wales. The place where the chatbot was used is unspecified.","court_countries":["GB"],"event_countries":["GB"],"affected_person_countries":["GB"]},"publication":{"basis":"The inspected sources describe a concrete adverse event and the specific chatbot interaction at issue. The account preserves attribution and separates the reported AI connection from a finding of causation.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-05"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The prosecutor reportedly described a refused violent request followed by advice after fictional reframing. The communicated_with relation describes the chatbot’s exchange with the perpetrator; the harmed people were affected through another person’s use. The sentencing judge discussed internet research but did not identify an AI system, so the judgment cannot independently verify DeepSeek’s role.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"metadataReview":{"version":1,"geography":{"basis":"Re-checked on 2026-10-02 against the Mold Crown Court sentencing remarks of 25 Mar 2026, the CPS Cymru-Wales press release and the North Wales Live (Daily Post) court report, all read in English; the North Wales Police release and the ITV News Wales report could not be read. The CPS release places the first attack at the shared home in Prestatyn and the killing in Prestatyn Nature Reserve, which supports event_countries=GB (Prestatyn is a town in North Wales). The sentencing remarks state that the victim had moved back to live in North Wales with her sons and that she was attacked in the home she shared with the defendant, which supports affected_person_countries=GB. The sentence was passed at Mold Crown Court (England and Wales), which supports court_countries=GB. GB represents the UK. No inspected source states where the defendant used the chatbot, so event_countries describes the killing, not the chatbot use. No country outside the UK appears in any inspected source.","evidence":[{"kind":"existing_record","locator":"in Prestatyn, Wales","location":"summary","supports":["event_countries","affected_person_countries"],"countries":["GB"]},{"kind":"existing_record","locator":"at Mold Crown Court","location":"outcome_details","supports":["court_countries"],"countries":["GB"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"'at their home in Prestatyn, late in the evening of 23 October 2025' and 'The two walked through Prestatyn Nature Reserve'","location":"https://www.cps.gov.uk/cymruwales/news/man-sentenced-murdering-his-mother","supports":["event_countries","affected_person_countries"],"countries":["GB"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"'has been sentenced at Mold Crown Court'","location":"https://www.cps.gov.uk/cymruwales/news/man-sentenced-murdering-his-mother","supports":["court_countries"],"countries":["GB"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"'moved back to live in North Wales' (paragraph 2)","location":"https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026-March-Mold-ROBERTS-Murder-Sent.pdf","supports":["affected_person_countries"],"countries":["GB"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"'MOLD CROWN COURT.' (heading of the sentencing remarks)","location":"https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026-March-Mold-ROBERTS-Murder-Sent.pdf","supports":["court_countries"],"countries":["GB"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"'Sentencing him to life at Mold Crown Court'","location":"https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/ai-killer-33661486","supports":["court_countries"],"countries":["GB"]}],"court_countries":["GB"],"event_countries":["GB"],"affected_person_countries":["GB"]},"unresolved":["The North Wales Police release and the ITV News Wales report could not be read (Cloudflare challenge, connection failure; Internet Archive offline on 2026-10-02); their languages are not recorded from read bodies.","No inspected source states where the defendant used the chatbot; event_countries=GB rests on the location of the attack and the killing.","Row-correction leads outside this metadata pass: the sentencing remarks and the CPS release date the killing to the early hours of 24 October 2025, while the row's incident_date is 2025-10-23; and neither of those two records mentions DeepSeek or AI, so among the inspected bodies the chatbot account rests on the prosecution's opening as reported by North Wales Live."],"reviewed_on":"2026-10-02","source_reviews":[{"url":"https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026-March-Mold-ROBERTS-Murder-Sent.pdf","notes":"Read on 2026-10-02 (HTTP 200, application/pdf; PDF /Lang EN-GB; text extracted with pdftotext). English. Sentencing remarks of His Honour Judge Rowlands at Mold Crown Court, 25 Mar 2026. Gives the home in Prestatyn, the nature reserve a short distance away and the victim's move back to North Wales. The remarks describe internet research on methods of killing and do not mention DeepSeek or any AI system.","access":"read","language":"en"},{"url":"https://www.cps.gov.uk/cymruwales/news/man-sentenced-murdering-his-mother","notes":"Read live on 2026-10-02 (HTTP 200; html lang=en). English; the page links a Welsh-language version, which was not read. CPS Cymru-Wales release of 25 Mar 2026: attack at the shared home in Prestatyn, killing in Prestatyn Nature Reserve, sentence at Mold Crown Court; its notes give the murder date as 24 October 2025. It does not mention DeepSeek or any AI system.","access":"read","language":"en"},{"url":"https://www.northwales.police.uk/news/north-wales/news/news/2026/march/prestatyn-man-18-sentenced-for-murder/","notes":"Live fetches on 2026-10-02 returned HTTP 403 with a Cloudflare challenge page ('Just a moment...'), with both a browser user agent and a plain request. Internet Archive was 'Temporarily Offline' (CDX returned no rows; the 2026 capture request returned HTTP 503). Not read, so its language is not recorded here.","access":"unavailable","language":null},{"url":"https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2026-03-25/teenager-jailed-for-killing-mother-with-a-hammer-because-of-hatred-of-women","notes":"Live fetches on 2026-10-02 failed without a response (HTTP/2 stream INTERNAL_ERROR, and a 25-second timeout over HTTP/1.1); the ITV news front page failed the same way. Internet Archive was 'Temporarily Offline' (CDX returned no rows). Not read, so its language is not recorded here.","access":"unavailable","language":null},{"url":"https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/ai-killer-33661486","notes":"Read live on 2026-10-02 (html lang=en). A request with a browser user agent returned HTTP 202 with an AWS WAF challenge page; a plain request returned HTTP 200 with the full article. English. North Wales Live court report of 25 Mar 2026 by two staff reporters (photographs credited PA Media / North Wales Police). Gives Mold Crown Court and Prestatyn; it carries the prosecution's account of the DeepSeek queries. The street address in the article was not used.","access":"read","language":"en"}]},"name":"Prosecutor reports DeepSeek advice before a man murdered his mother in Wales","summary":"A man murdered his mother in Wales after an attack spanning 23–24 October 2025, as established in the sentencing remarks. At the sentencing hearing, the prosecutor reportedly said DeepSeek first refused a violent request, then supplied advice after it was reframed as fiction. The judgment confirms the murder and internet research but does not mention AI. The role of DeepSeek remains an attributed prosecution account.","incidentDate":"2025-10-23","incidentEndDate":"2025-10-24","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-03-25","aiSystem":"DeepSeek, as named in the prosecution account reported by North Wales Live","aiProduct":"DeepSeek (reported)","aiCompany":"DeepSeek","severity":"critical","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["death","psychological_distress","harm_to_others"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A man murdered his mother in Wales after an attack spanning 23–24 October 2025, as established in the sentencing remarks. At the sentencing hearing, the prosecutor reportedly said DeepSeek first refused a violent request, then supplied advice after it was reframed as fiction. The judgment confirms the murder and internet research but does not mention AI. The role of DeepSeek remains an attributed prosecution account.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"outward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"The judgment establishes one murder and describes additional family anguish without a complete person count. The offender’s imprisonment is a legal response and is not added as an AI-related harm to a chatbot participant.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"GB","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026-March-Mold-ROBERTS-Murder-Sent.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Mold Crown Court sentencing remarks — 25 March 2026","firstPublishedAt":"2026-06-03T07:36:22.130703+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-05T12:33:54.553523+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["criminal","murder","deepseek","third-party-harm","uk","gb"]},{"id":"2025-ikner-fsu-shooting","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Police investigate the scene of a shooting near the student union at Florida State University on April 17, 2025 in Tallahassee, Florida. Two people were killed and six injured in the attack.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'the mass shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee on April 17, 2025, and the deaths of two people, with five others injured.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'The shooting, which took place on the FSU campus on April 17, 2025, injured six people and killed two people'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 17 April 2025 a shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee killed two people and wounded at least five others (five per Click Orlando; six per NPR's correction and ABC News).","causal_attribution":"The deaths and injuries were caused by the shooting. The record does not attribute them to ChatGPT; see c3 to c13 for the contested AI connection."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'is facing multiple charges of murder and attempted murder for the April 2025 shooting near the student union on FSU's Tallahassee campus, where he was a student at the time.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Phoenix Ikner, an FSU student at the time, is accused of the shooting and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder, and has pleaded not guilty.","causal_attribution":"These are criminal charges; guilt has not been determined."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Through a public records request to the state attorney's office, News 6 obtained the thousands of conversations Ikner had with ChatGPT over the course of a year.'; '\"How do police investigate suicides?\"'; 'He then asks about the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting and the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"ChatGPT transcripts released in court documents, which News 6 obtained from the state attorney's office, show Ikner conversing with ChatGPT over about a year, including questions about suicide and about terrorism and earlier mass shootings.","causal_attribution":"Describes the content of the conversations as reported from the transcripts; it does not establish that the conversations caused the shooting."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Then, in April, Ikner asks ChatGPT how the country would react to a shooting at FSU.'; 'Yes, a shooting at Florida State University involving three of more victims would almost certainly receive national media coverage'; 'After that, Ikner asks questions on 12-gauge shotguns, and Glocks, and how the safety buttons work.'; 'What time is it busiest in the FSU student union?'; 'Ikner asks, \"What about 3 plus at FSU?\"'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Court documents show that the suspected gunman Ikner communicated extensively with ChatGPT in the days, hours and minutes leading up to the tragic shooting, including asking about the busiest times at FSU'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"In April 2025 Ikner asked ChatGPT how the country would react to a shooting at FSU and asked \"What about 3 plus at FSU?\", and ChatGPT replied that such a shooting 'would almost certainly receive national media coverage'; Ikner then asked about 12-gauge shotguns, Glocks and how the safety buttons work, and what time the FSU student union is busiest.","causal_attribution":"Both outlets report the same court-record transcripts (one record chain, so reported). The questions and answers are evidence in the criminal case; whether the answers contributed to the attack is disputed (c8, c9)."},{"id":"c13","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'According to more than 13,000 messages reviewed and previously reported by the Phoenix'; 'Ikner's final request came three minutes before the shooting.'; 'What button is the safety off for the Remington 12 gauge?'; 'The AI provided detailed instructions.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s11"}],"assertion":"According to the Florida Phoenix's review of more than 13,000 messages, Ikner's final request to ChatGPT came three minutes before the shooting and asked which button turns the safety off on a Remington 12-gauge, and the AI provided detailed instructions.","causal_attribution":"Reported from the court-record transcripts (same chain as c4). It shows the timing and content of the exchange, not that the answer caused the shooting."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'At times, ChatGPT tells Ikner that it can't diagnose him, then explains clinical information on depression symptoms and suggests he speak to a counselor. It then suggests that if he needs immediate help to reach out to a crisis hotline, though it doesn't provide a number.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"When Ikner asked about mental health, ChatGPT at times explained depression symptoms, suggested speaking to a counselor and suggested a crisis hotline without giving a number.","causal_attribution":"Describes reported ChatGPT replies. OpenAI's motion, as WCTV reports it, says ChatGPT also referred Ikner to the 988 line (c9)."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'According to court filings, more than 200 AI messages have been entered into evidence in the case.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to court filings reported by NPR, more than 200 AI messages have been entered into evidence in the criminal case.","causal_attribution":"Establishes the reported evidentiary use of the messages, not their effect."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'consulted ChatGPT for advice before the shooting, including what type of gun to use, what ammunition went with it, and what time to go to campus to encounter more people, according to an initial review of Ikner's chat logs.'; 'issuing subpoenas to OpenAI seeking information about its policies and internal training materials'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'launched a criminal investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT after prosecutors reviewed the chat logs.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 21 April 2026 Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a criminal investigation of OpenAI over the shooting, said an initial review of the chat logs showed Ikner consulted ChatGPT on the gun, ammunition and timing, and issued subpoenas for OpenAI policies and training materials dating back to March 2024.","causal_attribution":"The Attorney General's characterisation of the chat logs is an official allegation; no charge against OpenAI is reported."},{"id":"c8","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'JOSHI v. OPENAI FOUNDATION, 4:26-cv-00222, (N.D. Fla.) Date Filed: May 10, 2026'; 'SUMMONS ISSUED-PHOENIX IKNER'; 'by VANDANA JOSHI'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"'MALL v. OPENAI FOUNDATION, 4:26-cv-00334, (N.D. Fla.) Date Filed: July 14, 2026'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"},{"locator":"'ASKINS v. OPENAI FOUNDATION, 4:26-cv-00335, (N.D. Fla.) Date Filed: July 14, 2026'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"},{"locator":"'GOURLEY v. OPENAI FOUNDATION, 4:26-cv-00416, (N.D. Fla.) Date Filed: Aug. 26, 2026'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s8"},{"locator":"'MORALES v. OPENAI FOUNDATION, 4:26-cv-00425, (N.D. Fla.) Date Filed: Aug. 31, 2026'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s9"},{"locator":"'Attorneys representing the family of Florida State University shooting victim Tiru Chabba have filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI'; 'The complaint, which was filed on Sunday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, also names the shooting suspect, Phoenix Ikner, as a defendant.'","relation":"context","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Vandana Joshi sued the OpenAI Foundation and Phoenix Ikner in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on 10 May 2026 (Joshi v. OpenAI Foundation, 4:26-cv-00222), the suit ABC News reports as brought by the family of Tiru Chabba. Further suits against OpenAI Foundation were filed in the same court by Elizabeth Mall and Madison Askins on 14 July 2026, Reese Gourley on 26 August 2026 and Betty Morales on 31 August 2026.","causal_attribution":"The dockets establish that the suits exist and when they were filed. The plaintiffs' allegations that ChatGPT helped plan the attack are allegations; the Chabba family's attorney told ABC News Ikner used ChatGPT 'as his co-conspirator'. The Mall docket records a notice of related cases and the same discovery-consolidation order entered in Joshi; the connection of the later suits to the shooting rests on the press accounts listed in additional_sources, not on these docket headers."},{"id":"c9","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'we identified an account believed to be associated with the suspect and proactively shared this information with law enforcement.'; 'ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"OpenAI's position is that ChatGPT is not responsible for the crime and provided factual responses with publicly available information, and that after the shooting it identified an account believed to be associated with the suspect and shared it with law enforcement.","causal_attribution":"OpenAI disputes that ChatGPT caused or contributed to the shooting."},{"id":"c10","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'ORDER DIRECTING PARTIES TO CONFER REGARDING CONSOLIDATING DISCOVERY. The parties' joint reports are due on or before 9/29/2026.'; 'MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM by AESTAS LLC'; 'Exhibit 1 - Chat Logs'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"'24 Sep 22, 2026 ORDER DIRECTING PARTIES TO CONFER REGARDING CONSOLIDATING DISCOVERY.'; 'The parties shall file their proposed consolidated discovery schedule on or before Friday, 10/2/2026.'","relation":"context","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"On 22 September 2026 the court in Joshi ordered the parties to confer about consolidating discovery, with joint reports due by 29 September 2026; on 25 September 2026 the OpenAI defendants moved to dismiss the suit for failure to state a claim, attaching a declaration and exhibits including chat logs.","causal_attribution":"The docket establishes that the order and the motion were filed; the court has not ruled on the motion."},{"id":"c11","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'At no point did Ikner tell ChatGPT that he was planning or intended to commit a shooting'; 'referred him to the 988 crisis line'; 'it had no legal duty to warn about or prevent Ikner'; 'holding it liable would violate free speech rights'; 'responses were consistently factual'; 'repeatedly encouraged him to'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"According to WCTV's account of the motion to dismiss, OpenAI argues that Ikner never told ChatGPT of a plan to commit a shooting, that ChatGPT's responses were consistently factual, that it encouraged Ikner to talk to someone and referred Ikner to the 988 crisis line when depression came up, that it had no legal duty to warn or prevent the crime, and that liability would violate free-speech rights.","causal_attribution":"These are OpenAI's litigation arguments as reported by WCTV; they dispute the plaintiffs' allegations and are not findings."},{"id":"c12","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'His trial is set to begin on Oct. 19.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'He is expected to stand trial on June 8, 2027, and could face the death penalty if convicted.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Ikner's criminal trial date has moved: NPR reported in April 2026 that the trial was set to begin on 19 October, and WCTV reported on 28 September 2026 that Ikner is expected to stand trial on 8 June 2027 and could face the death penalty if convicted.","causal_attribution":"Procedural status only. The June 2027 date is WCTV's report and was not confirmed from a Leon County court record."}],"effects":[{"label":"two people were killed and at least five wounded in the shooting near the FSU student union","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.npr.org/2026/04/21/nx-s1-5793967/florida-openai-investigation-mass-shooting-fsu","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"NPR, 21 April 2026 (corrected 7 May 2026). Body retained from the 2026-09-24 live read (html lang=en) and re-read for this review. Reports the Attorney General's press conference and OpenAI's statement to NPR.","independence_group":"npr"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.clickorlando.com/news/investigators/2026/04/09/fsu-shooting-suspect-used-chatgpt-to-help-plan-fatal-attack-court-records-show/","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"WKMG News 6 (Click Orlando), 9 April 2026. Body retained from the 2026-09-24 live read and re-read. Quotes ChatGPT transcripts News 6 obtained from the state attorney's office by public-records request; NOPE did not inspect the transcripts.","independence_group":"state-attorney-transcripts"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://abcnews.com/US/family-fsu-shooting-victim-files-lawsuit-alleging-chatgpt/story?id=132845521","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"ABC News, 11 May 2026 (byline Deena Zaru). Read live on 2026-10-03 (HTTP 200) and re-read. Carries the plaintiffs' attorney's statements and OpenAI's statement to ABC.","independence_group":"abc-news"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.wctv.tv/2026/09/28/openai-seeks-dismissal-lawsuit-linking-chatgpt-fsu-campus-shooting-citing-free-speech/","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"WCTV (Tallahassee), 28 September 2026. Read live on 2026-10-03 (HTTP 200) and re-read. Its account of the motion to dismiss quotes the motion, which WCTV calls the complaint or the lawsuit in places; NOPE did not read the motion itself.","independence_group":"wctv"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73320881/joshi-v-openai-foundation/","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CourtListener RECAP docket for Joshi v. OpenAI Foundation, 4:26-cv-00222 (N.D. Fla.), read live on 2026-10-04 (HTTP 200; also the RECAP search API, HTTP 200). Docket entry text only; the motion and order PDFs were not read.","independence_group":"court-record-joshi"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73614528/mall-v-openai-foundation/","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CourtListener RECAP docket for Mall v. OpenAI Foundation, 4:26-cv-00334 (N.D. Fla.), read live on 2026-10-04 (HTTP 200). Docket entry text only; entries through 30 Sep 2026 read.","independence_group":"court-record-mall"},{"id":"s7","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73615017/askins-v-openai-foundation/","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CourtListener RECAP docket for Askins v. OpenAI Foundation, 4:26-cv-00335 (N.D. Fla.), read live on 2026-10-04 (HTTP 200). Docket header only.","independence_group":"court-record-askins"},{"id":"s8","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74707084/gourley-v-openai-foundation/","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CourtListener RECAP docket for Gourley v. OpenAI Foundation, 4:26-cv-00416 (N.D. Fla.), read live on 2026-10-04 (HTTP 200). Docket header only.","independence_group":"court-record-gourley"},{"id":"s9","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74722578/morales-v-openai-foundation/","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CourtListener RECAP docket for Morales v. OpenAI Foundation, 4:26-cv-00425 (N.D. Fla.), read live on 2026-10-04 (HTTP 200). Docket header only.","independence_group":"court-record-morales"},{"id":"s10","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74806746/grant-v-openai-inc/","kind":"court_record","access":"unavailable","language":null,"translation_note":"CourtListener docket for Grant v. OpenAI Inc., 4:26-cv-00459 (N.D. Fla.). Returned HTTP 202 with an empty body twice on 2026-10-04; the removal facts in the narrative are carried forward from the 2026-09-17 review and were not re-inspected here.","independence_group":"court-record-grant"},{"id":"s11","url":"https://www.wlrn.org/government-politics/2026-04-21/uthmeier-investigating-whether-chatgpt-is-criminally-liable-for-fsu-shooting","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"WLRN, 21 April 2026, by Liv Caputo of the Florida Phoenix (States Newsroom), read live on 2026-10-04 (HTTP 200). Its chat-log passages relay the Florida Phoenix's own review of more than 13,000 messages from the court records, so they share the court-record transcript chain with Click Orlando and WCTV.","independence_group":"state-attorney-transcripts"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use","others_use"],"contexts":["education","justice","health"],"unknowns":["Whether ChatGPT's answers contributed to the attack is contested and undetermined; no court has ruled on the civil claims and the criminal trial has not taken place.","The total number of messages is reported differently: the Florida Phoenix reviewed more than 13,000 messages, and the Chabba family's attorney told ABC News of 16,000 'disturbing chats'. Neither figure was established from a court record in this review.","The Leon County criminal docket was not inspected; the June 8, 2027 trial date rests on WCTV's report.","The motion to dismiss, the discovery order and the complaints were read only as docket entries or through press accounts, not as documents.","The Grant removal docket and the other retained press sources (AP, CNN, NBC News, WJHG, Tallahassee Reports, Florida Phoenix, WTXL, WCTV August 2026, Tallahassee Democrat via Yahoo) were not re-inspected in this review; the narrative's account of those suits is carried forward from earlier reviews.","Whether OpenAI's systems flagged Ikner's account before the shooting is not reported."],"geography":{"basis":"Carried forward from the 2026-09-24 metadata review and re-checked: NPR and Click Orlando place the shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, where those killed and wounded were. The criminal case is in Florida, and the civil suits are in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (CourtListener dockets). The victims' countries of residence are recorded from the location of the shooting; WCTV describes Chabba as a South Carolina father.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Two deaths and the injuries are reported by NPR, Click Orlando and ABC News. Ikner's ChatGPT use is reported from court-record transcripts and acknowledged by OpenAI's account identification. Civil suits and the September 2026 motion to dismiss are documented on CourtListener dockets. The AI connection is alleged by the Attorney General and plaintiffs and disputed by OpenAI; causation is not established.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-04"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"ChatGPT transcripts obtained by News 6 from the state attorney's office through a public-records request show the accused, Ikner, asking ChatGPT about a shooting at FSU, firearm safety mechanisms and the busiest time at the student union; NPR reports more than 200 AI messages entered into evidence, and OpenAI says it identified an account believed to be associated with the suspect. The killed and wounded are third parties harmed by Ikner's use. Whether ChatGPT contributed to the attack is contested: the plaintiffs and Florida's Attorney General allege it did, and OpenAI says ChatGPT gave factual, publicly available information and is not responsible.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"metadataReview":{"version":1,"geography":{"basis":"Carried forward from the 2026-09-15 metadata review and now supported by inspected bodies. NPR and Click Orlando place the shooting near the student union of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, on 17 April 2025, where the two people killed and those wounded were; the criminal case is in Florida and the civil suits in the Northern District of Florida and Leon County (retained row). This is a metadata review and does not verify the account of AI involvement.","evidence":[{"kind":"existing_record","locator":"at Florida State University in Tallahassee","location":"summary","supports":["event_countries","affected_person_countries"],"countries":["US"]},{"kind":"existing_record","locator":"N.D. Fla.","location":"outcome_details","supports":["court_countries"],"countries":["US"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"'Police investigate the scene of a shooting near the student union at Florida State University on April 17, 2025 in Tallahassee, Florida. Two people were killed and six injured in the attack.'","location":"https://www.npr.org/2026/04/21/nx-s1-5793967/florida-openai-investigation-mass-shooting-fsu","supports":["event_countries","affected_person_countries"],"countries":["US"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"'the mass shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee on April 17, 2025, and the deaths of two people, with five others injured.'","location":"https://www.clickorlando.com/news/investigators/2026/04/09/fsu-shooting-suspect-used-chatgpt-to-help-plan-fatal-attack-court-records-show/","supports":["event_countries","affected_person_countries"],"countries":["US"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"'the April 2025 shooting near the student union on FSU's Tallahassee campus'","location":"https://www.npr.org/2026/04/21/nx-s1-5793967/florida-openai-investigation-mass-shooting-fsu","supports":["event_countries"],"countries":["US"]}],"court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"unresolved":["The 18 additional sources cited by the retained row (AP, WLRN, CNN, NBC, WJHG, Tallahassee Reports, Florida Phoenix, WTXL, WCTV, the Tallahassee Democrat via Yahoo and five CourtListener dockets) were not re-inspected in this pass; an AP Wayback capture was fetched but not reviewed. Their languages remain unreviewed.","The victims' countries of residence are recorded from the location of the shooting; no source states their residence separately."],"reviewed_on":"2026-09-24","source_reviews":[{"url":"https://www.npr.org/2026/04/21/nx-s1-5793967/florida-openai-investigation-mass-shooting-fsu","notes":"Read live on 2026-09-24 (NPR, 21 April 2026; html lang=en). Reports the Florida Attorney General's criminal investigation of OpenAI, the shooting near the FSU student union in Tallahassee on 17 April 2025 (two killed, six wounded per NPR's correction), the accused's ChatGPT queries per the AG's review of chat logs, OpenAI's statement and the trial date of 19 October.","access":"read","language":"en"},{"url":"https://www.clickorlando.com/news/investigators/2026/04/09/fsu-shooting-suspect-used-chatgpt-to-help-plan-fatal-attack-court-records-show/","notes":"Read live on 2026-09-24 (WKMG News 6, 9 April 2026; html lang=en). Investigation based on ChatGPT transcripts obtained by public records request; places the shooting at FSU in Tallahassee on 17 April 2025 and describes the questions the accused put to the chatbot.","access":"read","language":"en"}]},"name":"Florida State University Shooting (Phoenix Ikner's ChatGPT Questions Before the Attack)","summary":"On April 17, 2025, a shooting near the student union at Florida State University in Tallahassee killed two people and wounded at least five others. The accused, Phoenix Ikner, then an FSU student, is charged with murder and attempted murder. ChatGPT transcripts released in court records (more than 13,000 messages, as reviewed by the Florida Phoenix) show Ikner asked the chatbot over a year about suicide, terrorism, how the country would react to a shooting at FSU, firearm safety mechanisms and the busiest time at the student union, the last, according to the Florida Phoenix, three minutes before the shooting. Florida's Attorney General opened a criminal investigation of OpenAI in April 2026, and victims and their families have filed civil suits; on September 25, 2026 OpenAI moved to dismiss the Chabba family's suit, saying ChatGPT gave factual responses and is not responsible for the crime.","incidentDate":"2025-04-17","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2026-04-09","aiSystem":"ChatGPT","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"critical","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":["third_party_harm_facilitation","crisis_response","method_provision"],"harmOutcomes":["death","physical_injury","harm_to_others","legal_harm","loss_of_liberty"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A shooting at Florida State University on 17 April 2025 killed two people and wounded at least five; the accused, Phoenix Ikner, has pleaded not guilty. ChatGPT transcripts released in court records, as reported by Click Orlando and the Florida Phoenix, include firearm and student-union timing questions in the hours and minutes before the attack.","frameworkFacets":["P1a","P1c","P1d","P5d"],"pathwayDirection":"outward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":7,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"Two people were killed and at least five wounded in the shooting (Click Orlando reports five injured; NPR's 7 May 2026 correction and ABC News report six). The lower reported injury count is used. The participant count of one is the accused, Ikner, who used ChatGPT and has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder (ABC News); the legal_harm outcome refers to him.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-FL","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.npr.org/2026/04/21/nx-s1-5793967/florida-openai-investigation-mass-shooting-fsu","primarySourceLabel":"NPR — Florida AG opens OpenAI investigation over FSU shooting","firstPublishedAt":"2026-04-28T13:00:04.410579+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T03:21:55.18827+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["criminal-investigation","lawsuit","shooting","mass-violence","chatgpt","openai","fsu","florida","us","regulatory"]},{"id":"2026-seoul-chatgpt-murders","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"deaths","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"is accused of killing two men by giving them drinks containing benzodiazepines","relation":"supports","source_id":"kh"},{"locator":"another man in his 20s","relation":"supports","source_id":"kh"},{"locator":"on charges of killing two men at motels in Seoul’s Gangbuk-gu","relation":"supports","source_id":"kh"},{"locator":"서울 강북구 모텔 등에서 약물이 든 음료로 남성 2명을 살해한","relation":"supports","source_id":"verdict"},{"locator":"20대 남성 3명에게 향정신성의약품이 섞인 음료를 건네 2명을 숨지게 하고 1명을 의식불명 상태에 빠뜨린 혐의를 받는다","relation":"supports","source_id":"sisa"}],"assertion":"Two men in their twenties died after drinking beverages containing sedative drugs that the accused gave them at motels in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul.","causal_attribution":"The police account and the first-instance court both report the deaths. Neither establishes that ChatGPT caused them."},{"id":"police_timeline","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"took place at 9:24 p.m. on Jan. 28","relation":"supports","source_id":"kh"},{"locator":"The man was found dead the following day at around 6 p.m. on a bed inside the room.","relation":"supports","source_id":"kh"},{"locator":"Using the same method, she allegedly killed another man in his 20s on Feb. 9","relation":"supports","source_id":"kh"},{"locator":"He survived and was not in a life-threatening condition.","relation":"supports","source_id":"kh"}],"assertion":"Police said the first man was found dead in a motel room the day after the accused entered it with him on the evening of 28 January 2026, that the second man died on 9 February 2026, and that a man she was dating survived a drugged drink in December 2025.","causal_attribution":"Police dates for the series. They do not bear on the chatbot’s causal role."},{"id":"police_queries","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"The police investigation revealed that she had entered questions into ChatGPT about the risks of administering the drugs beforehand","relation":"supports","source_id":"kh"},{"locator":"What happens if you take sleeping pills with alcohol?","relation":"supports","source_id":"kh"},{"locator":"“Could it be fatal?”","relation":"supports","source_id":"kh"},{"locator":"was referred to prosecutors under detention on murder charges rather than on charges of inflicting bodily injury resulting in death","relation":"supports","source_id":"kh"},{"locator":"as police concluded that she had intent to kill based on her online history","relation":"supports","source_id":"kh"},{"locator":"repeatedly asked questions related to drugs on ChatGPT","relation":"supports","source_id":"fortune"}],"assertion":"Seoul Gangbuk police said in February 2026 that the accused had asked ChatGPT beforehand about the risks of the drugs, including what happens when sleeping pills are taken with alcohol and whether it could be fatal, and that they referred her for murder rather than a lesser charge because her online history showed intent.","causal_attribution":"The police treated the history as evidence of intent. This statement reports queries, without the chatbot’s replies."},{"id":"openai_statement","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"a spokesperson for OpenAI told Fortune","relation":"supports","source_id":"fortune"},{"locator":"South Korean police do not allege the chatbot provided any other responses other than factual ones","relation":"supports","source_id":"fortune"}],"assertion":"Fortune reported an OpenAI spokesperson’s statement that the questions followed a factual line of questioning, which Fortune said meant they would not raise the alarms that statements of self-harm would. Fortune also wrote that South Korean police did not allege any chatbot responses other than factual ones.","causal_attribution":"The company statement concerns how the system treated the queries. It does not address the later replies reported from the judgment."},{"id":"indictment_replies","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"공소장에 따르면","relation":"supports","source_id":"indict"},{"locator":"“수면제 많이 먹으면 어떻게 돼?”, “수면제 많이 먹는다고 그 사람이 죽어?”","relation":"supports","source_id":"indict"},{"locator":"“그럴 수 있다”는 취지의 답변을 거듭 받았다","relation":"supports","source_id":"indict"},{"locator":"음료를 마셨고 결국 숨졌다","relation":"supports","source_id":"indict"},{"locator":"바로 그날 밤 20대 남성은 서울 강북구의 한 모텔에서","relation":"supports","source_id":"indict"},{"locator":"약물의 양을 두 배 정도 늘려 첫 번째 사망자에게 건넸을 것","relation":"supports","source_id":"indict"}],"assertion":"Edaily reported that, according to the indictment, the accused asked ChatGPT what happens when many sleeping pills are taken and whether the person would die, repeatedly received answers that this could happen, and that on the same night a man in his twenties drank the drugged beverage she gave him at a Gangbuk motel and died. Prosecutors alleged that after these answers she roughly doubled the dose given to the first man who died.","causal_attribution":"This is the prosecution’s allegation about how the replies related to the first death. No inspected source independent of the prosecution supports the dose allegation."},{"id":"judgment_lethality_reply","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"또 다른 피해자를 만나기 전","relation":"supports","source_id":"sbs"},{"locator":"\"수면제 많이 먹는다고 사람이 죽냐\"고 물었고","relation":"supports","source_id":"sbs"},{"locator":"\"최악의 경우 사망할 수 있다\"는 답을 들었습니다","relation":"supports","source_id":"sbs"},{"locator":"과실 치사나 유기 치사의 경우 법정 형이 얼마나 되는지도 물은","relation":"supports","source_id":"sbs"},{"locator":"같은 날 의식을 잃은 피해자를 남겨둔 채 혼자 모텔을 빠져나왔고, 피해자는 숨졌습니다","relation":"supports","source_id":"sbs"},{"locator":"챗GPT는 최악의 경우 사망할 수 있다는 취지로 답했다","relation":"supports","source_id":"mt"},{"locator":"이에 챗GPT는 “최악의 경우 사망할 수 있다”는 답을 내놨다","relation":"supports","source_id":"herald"},{"locator":"과실치사나 유기치사의 법정형도 물었던 것으로 나타났다","relation":"supports","source_id":"mt"}],"assertion":"SBS reported that the written first-instance judgment records that in January 2026, before meeting another man, the accused asked ChatGPT whether taking many sleeping pills can kill a person and was told that death was possible in the worst case. She also asked about the statutory sentences for negligent homicide and abandonment resulting in death, and the same day left the man unconscious at a motel, where he died.","causal_attribution":"Money Today and Herald Business relay the SBS report; all three rest on the same judgment. The reports do not say the reply caused the killings."},{"id":"judgment_excerpt_reply","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"술과 함께 복용 시 호흡 마비로 인한 사망 위험이 매우 높으므로 즉시 119 신고가 필요하다","relation":"supports","source_id":"khan"},{"locator":"“수면제 많이 먹는다고 그 사람이 죽어?”라고 되물으며","relation":"supports","source_id":"khan"},{"locator":"서울북부지법의 판결문 일부","relation":"supports","source_id":"khan"}],"assertion":"Kyunghyang Shinmun, citing a judgment excerpt supplied by the court, reported that when the accused asked ChatGPT what happens if many sleeping pills are taken, it replied that taking them with alcohol carried a very high risk of death from respiratory paralysis and that 119 must be called immediately, after which she asked whether the person would die.","causal_attribution":"The reported reply combined a lethality warning with emergency advice. The feature calls generative AI a crime accomplice in its headline; the court excerpt does not attribute the death to the reply."},{"id":"judgment_119_replies","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"술을 마시기 전날인 지난 1월9일","relation":"supports","source_id":"tsisa"},{"locator":"바닥에 두고 가거나 모텔에서 재우면 안 되느냐","relation":"supports","source_id":"tsisa"},{"locator":"의식을 잃은 사람을 바닥에 두거나 모텔에 혼자 재워서는 안 된다고 답했다","relation":"supports","source_id":"tsisa"},{"locator":"술과 약물을 함께 복용하면 질식이나 호흡정지가 발생할 수 있다는 경고도 덧붙였다","relation":"supports","source_id":"tsisa"},{"locator":"챗GPT는 일반적인 사례를 현재 상황에 적용해서는 안 된다며 119나 숙박업소 직원에게 즉시 연락하라고 재차 권고했다","relation":"supports","source_id":"tsisa"},{"locator":"그 뒤에도 경찰이나 119에 신고하지 않았다","relation":"supports","source_id":"tsisa"},{"locator":"119나 모텔 프런트에 즉시 연락하라고 거듭 권했다","relation":"supports","source_id":"fn"},{"locator":"약 30시간 뒤인 1월 12일 오전 5시 40분쯤","relation":"supports","source_id":"fn"}],"assertion":"Reports of the written judgment say that on 9 January 2026 the accused asked ChatGPT whether she could leave a man who collapsed while drinking on the floor or at a motel, and that ChatGPT told her to call 119, warned that alcohol with drugs could cause choking or respiratory arrest, and said an unconscious person must not be left alone. After she left a man unconscious at a lodging the next night and described his state, it again told her to contact 119 or the lodging staff immediately. She contacted neither, and CCTV showed him first leaving the room about 30 hours after she left.","causal_attribution":"The reported replies were protective, and the accused did not follow them. The judgment reports treat the exchange as evidence of what she knew; they do not attribute the harm to the replies."},{"id":"judgment_detection_queries","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"당시 교제하던","relation":"supports","source_id":"tsisa"},{"locator":"에게 약물이 든 음료를 먹여 의식을 잃게 한 뒤였다","relation":"supports","source_id":"tsisa"},{"locator":"약 8시간 동안 챗GPT에 약물검사와 성분 검출 가능성을 물었다","relation":"supports","source_id":"tsisa"},{"locator":"약물 섞인 음료를 마신 피해 남성이 의식을 잃고 병원으로 옮겨진 직후","relation":"supports","source_id":"sbs"},{"locator":"깨어난 피해자가 경찰에 신고하겠다는 취지로 말하자","relation":"supports","source_id":"sbs"},{"locator":"나를 의심하지 않을까","relation":"supports","source_id":"sbs"}],"assertion":"Reports of the written judgment say that after a man she was dating lost consciousness from a drugged drink in December 2025 and was taken to hospital, the accused spent about eight hours the next morning asking ChatGPT whether sleeping pills and antidepressants would show up in drug tests. After he said he would go to the police, she asked ChatGPT whether the police would suspect her.","causal_attribution":"These queries followed the December drugging. No reply content for them is reported."},{"id":"court_finding","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"무기징역을 선고하고 위치추적 전자장치 30년 부착을 명령했다","relation":"supports","source_id":"verdict"},{"locator":"반복적으로 챗GPT를 통해 약물의 위험성을 학습해가는 과정에서","relation":"supports","source_id":"verdict"},{"locator":"사망 결과를 충분히 예견하고 상당 수준 용인했다고 인정된다","relation":"supports","source_id":"verdict"},{"locator":"대화 내역만 기억하지 못한다는 주장은 납득하기 어렵다","relation":"supports","source_id":"verdict"},{"locator":"챗 GPT를 통해 의학적 근거를 학습한 점을 들어","relation":"supports","source_id":"mbc"},{"locator":"특히 반복적으로 주고받은 챗GPT를 통해 사망의 결과를 충분히 예견하고, 상당 수준 용인했다고 인정할 수 있다","relation":"supports","source_id":"newsis"},{"locator":"처음 음료를 사용할 당시엔 구체적 사망의 위험성을 인식하지 못했다고 보이지만","relation":"supports","source_id":"newsis"}],"assertion":"On 27 August 2026 the Seoul Northern District Court sentenced the accused to life imprisonment with a 30-year electronic monitoring order. It found that she did not appear to recognise the specific risk of death when she first used the drugged drinks, but that, in the course of repeatedly learning the danger of the drugs through ChatGPT, she foresaw and accepted the deaths (intent in the form of dolus eventualis), and rejected her claim not to remember the ChatGPT conversations.","causal_attribution":"The court used the chatbot exchanges as evidence of the accused’s knowledge and intent. It did not find that ChatGPT caused or instructed the killings."},{"id":"families_lawyer","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"재판부가 판결문에서 이 사건을 AI와 약물을 결합한 연쇄살인 범죄로 규정했다","relation":"supports","source_id":"verdict"},{"locator":"챗GPT 검색기록으로 피고인의 고의 부인 주장이 사실상 탄핵됐고","relation":"supports","source_id":"verdict"}],"assertion":"After the verdict, the lawyer for the victims’ families said the written judgment defined the case as a serial murder combining AI and drugs, and that the ChatGPT search records had in effect refuted the accused’s denial of intent.","causal_attribution":"This is the families’ lawyer’s characterisation of the judgment, which was not inspected. It does not establish that the chatbot caused the deaths."},{"id":"other_counts","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"검찰이 지난 4월 특수상해와 마약류관리법 위반 혐의로","relation":"supports","source_id":"appeal_pros"},{"locator":"지난해 10월부터 지난 1월까지 남성 3명에게 약물이 든 음료를 건네","relation":"supports","source_id":"appeal_pros"},{"locator":"피해자는 기존 3명을 포함해 총 6명으로 늘었다","relation":"supports","source_id":"appeal_pros"},{"locator":"다만 피해자 6명 중 1명에 대한 특수상해 혐의는 무죄로 판단했다","relation":"supports","source_id":"sisa"},{"locator":"지난해 10월 25일 한 음식점에서 발생한 특수상해 사건은 제출된 증거들만으로는 증명이 부족하다고 봐 무죄로 판단했다","relation":"supports","source_id":"newsis"}],"assertion":"Prosecutors added charges in April 2026 that the accused injured three more men with drugged drinks between October 2025 and January 2026, bringing the alleged victims to six; the court acquitted her on the count concerning one of the six, an October 2025 incident at a restaurant.","causal_attribution":"These counts are part of the criminal case. Only the December 2025 and January 2026 survivors are connected to the chatbot exchanges in the inspected reports."},{"id":"appeals","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"검찰이 사형을 구형했다","relation":"supports","source_id":"closing"},{"locator":"지난 28일 항소장을 제출했다","relation":"supports","source_id":"appeal_def"},{"locator":"사실오인·법리오해와 양형부당을 이유로 이날 항소를 제기했다고 2일 밝혔다","relation":"supports","source_id":"appeal_mk"},{"locator":"항소심 첫 공판기일을 진행한다","relation":"supports","source_id":"newsis"},{"locator":"서울고법 형사7부(부장판사 구회근)는 다음 달 21일","relation":"supports","source_id":"metro"}],"assertion":"Prosecutors had sought the death penalty. The accused appealed on 28 August 2026 and prosecutors appealed on 2 September 2026, citing errors of fact and law and an unduly light sentence. The Seoul High Court scheduled the first appeal hearing for 21 October 2026.","causal_attribution":"The appeal proceedings do not bear on the chatbot’s causal role."}],"effects":[{"label":"Two men died after drinking beverages containing sedatives that the accused gave them.","claim_id":"deaths","direction":"negative"},{"label":"A man was left alone unconscious in a lodging after the accused ignored ChatGPT’s advice to call 119; CCTV first showed him leaving the room about 30 hours later.","claim_id":"judgment_119_replies","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"kh","url":"https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10678557","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English; no translation. Full article body inspected (navigation and related-story cards excluded). Reports the Seoul Gangbuk Police Station statement; published 19 February 2026.","independence_group":"gangbuk_police"},{"id":"fortune","url":"https://fortune.com/2026/03/02/seoul-south-korea-woman-chatgpt-two-murders/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English; no translation. Full body inspected. Its account of the police findings relays the Korea Herald report, so it shares that group; the OpenAI spokesperson statement is Fortune’s own reporting.","independence_group":"gangbuk_police"},{"id":"indict","url":"https://www.edaily.co.kr/News/Read?newsId=04969206645384632","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Body inspected. Edaily reports the prosecutors’ indictment as obtained through a National Assembly member’s office (March 2026).","independence_group":"indictment"},{"id":"closing","url":"https://v.daum.net/v/20260818164848094","kind":"court_reporting","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Edaily article read on Daum; body inspected. Closing hearing of 18 August 2026.","independence_group":"first_instance_trial"},{"id":"verdict","url":"https://v.daum.net/v/20260827164152936","kind":"court_reporting","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Edaily article read on Daum; full body inspected. Reports the court’s pronouncement of 27 August 2026 and the victims’ families’ lawyer.","independence_group":"first_instance_trial"},{"id":"mbc","url":"https://v.daum.net/v/20260827170906280","kind":"court_reporting","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. MBC News item read on Daum; short body inspected in full. Same court pronouncement.","independence_group":"first_instance_trial"},{"id":"sisa","url":"https://www.sisajournal.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=385126","kind":"court_reporting","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Sisa Journal; full body inspected. Same court pronouncement, including the acquittal on one count.","independence_group":"first_instance_trial"},{"id":"appeal_def","url":"https://v.daum.net/v/20260831165352657","kind":"court_reporting","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. JoongAng Ilbo article read on Daum; body inspected. Reports the accused’s appeal filed 28 August 2026, citing legal sources.","independence_group":"appeal_filings"},{"id":"appeal_pros","url":"https://v.daum.net/v/20260902145750822","kind":"court_reporting","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. The Fact article read on Daum; body inspected (related-story list excluded). Reports the prosecution appeal of 2 September 2026.","independence_group":"appeal_filings"},{"id":"appeal_mk","url":"https://v.daum.net/v/20260902150004935","kind":"court_reporting","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Maeil Business Newspaper article read on Daum; body inspected. Reports the prosecution’s own announcement of its appeal.","independence_group":"appeal_filings"},{"id":"sbs","url":"https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1008743638","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. SBS News report of 8 September 2026 on the written first-instance judgment; body inspected. The judgment itself was not inspected.","independence_group":"first_instance_trial"},{"id":"mt","url":"https://www.mt.co.kr/society/2026/09/09/2026090909103038416","kind":"news_relay","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Money Today; body inspected. States that it relays the SBS report of the written judgment.","independence_group":"first_instance_trial"},{"id":"herald","url":"https://biz.heraldcorp.com/article/10867393","kind":"news_relay","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Herald Business; body inspected (unrelated article teasers excluded). States that it relays the SBS report of the written judgment.","independence_group":"first_instance_trial"},{"id":"tsisa","url":"https://www.tsisalaw.com/news/article.html?no=30482","kind":"court_reporting","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. The Sisa Law, 9 September 2026; full body inspected. Reports the written judgment, citing legal sources.","independence_group":"first_instance_trial"},{"id":"fn","url":"https://www.fnnews.com/news/202609091211327986","kind":"news_relay","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Financial News page carrying a News1-credited report of the written judgment, 9 September 2026; body inspected.","independence_group":"first_instance_trial"},{"id":"khan","url":"https://www.khan.co.kr/article/202609111728001/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Kyunghyang Shinmun feature, 11 September 2026; body inspected. Its account of a ChatGPT reply rests on a judgment excerpt supplied by the court.","independence_group":"first_instance_trial"},{"id":"newsis","url":"https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20260930_0003808409","kind":"court_reporting","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Newsis, 30 September 2026; body inspected (promotional links excluded). Reports the appeal hearing schedule and recaps the judgment.","independence_group":"appeal_schedule"},{"id":"metro","url":"https://www.metroseoul.co.kr/article/20260930500091","kind":"court_reporting","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Metro Seoul, 30 September 2026; body inspected. Same appeal schedule from legal sources.","independence_group":"appeal_schedule"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["relationships","justice"],"unknowns":["The written judgment and the full ChatGPT transcripts were not inspected; the replies are known only through press quotation of the judgment and indictment.","The reports quote the January lethality reply in different words (SBS: death possible in the worst case; Kyunghyang: very high risk of death with alcohol, call 119), which may reflect different turns of the same conversation.","The prosecution allegation that the dose was doubled after the replies has no inspected support independent of the prosecution.","The Seoul High Court appeal had not been heard as of 6 October 2026."],"geography":{"basis":"The Korea Herald places the deaths at motels in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul. The trial took place at the Seoul Northern District Court and the appeal is before the Seoul High Court. Affected-person countries record where the harmed men were reported harmed, not their nationality.","court_countries":["KR"],"event_countries":["KR"],"affected_person_countries":["KR"]},"publication":{"basis":"The police account and the first-instance court each report the two deaths and the accused’s ChatGPT exchanges, and reports of the indictment and written judgment quote the chatbot’s replies on lethality and emergency help. The court used those exchanges to establish intent. Causation by the chatbot is not established, and both parties have appealed.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-06"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Police, the indictment and the first-instance court each describe the accused’s ChatGPT exchanges about the danger of the sedatives. Reports of the indictment and the written judgment state what ChatGPT answered: that many sleeping pills could kill a person, death being possible in the worst case, and, in other exchanges, that she must call 119 and not leave an unconscious man alone. The court relied on the exchanges to find that she foresaw and accepted the two deaths, and prosecutors allege she roughly doubled the dose after the lethality replies. The reports connect the replies to her knowledge when she acted; they do not establish that the chatbot caused the killings.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"metadataReview":{"version":1,"geography":{"basis":"The Korea Herald places the deaths at motels in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul. The trial took place at the Seoul Northern District Court and the appeal is before the Seoul High Court. Affected-person countries record where the harmed men were reported harmed, not their nationality.","evidence":[{"kind":"source_body","locator":"killing two men at motels in Seoul’s Gangbuk-gu","location":"https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10678557","supports":["event_countries"],"countries":["KR"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"killing two men at motels in Seoul’s Gangbuk-gu","location":"https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10678557","supports":["affected_person_countries"],"countries":["KR"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"서울북부지법 형사합의14부","location":"https://www.sisajournal.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=385126","supports":["court_countries"],"countries":["KR"]}],"court_countries":["KR"],"event_countries":["KR"],"affected_person_countries":["KR"]},"unresolved":["The written first-instance judgment was not obtained; facts from it are taken from press reports."],"reviewed_on":"2026-10-06","source_reviews":[{"url":"https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10678557","notes":"English; no translation. Full article body inspected (navigation and related-story cards excluded). Reports the Seoul Gangbuk Police Station statement; published 19 February 2026.","access":"read","language":"en"},{"url":"https://fortune.com/2026/03/02/seoul-south-korea-woman-chatgpt-two-murders/","notes":"English; no translation. Full body inspected. Its account of the police findings relays the Korea Herald report, so it shares that group; the OpenAI spokesperson statement is Fortune’s own reporting.","access":"read","language":"en"},{"url":"https://www.edaily.co.kr/News/Read?newsId=04969206645384632","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Body inspected. Edaily reports the prosecutors’ indictment as obtained through a National Assembly member’s office (March 2026).","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://v.daum.net/v/20260818164848094","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Edaily article read on Daum; body inspected. Closing hearing of 18 August 2026.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://v.daum.net/v/20260827164152936","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Edaily article read on Daum; full body inspected. Reports the court’s pronouncement of 27 August 2026 and the victims’ families’ lawyer.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://v.daum.net/v/20260827170906280","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. MBC News item read on Daum; short body inspected in full. Same court pronouncement.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://www.sisajournal.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=385126","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Sisa Journal; full body inspected. Same court pronouncement, including the acquittal on one count.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://v.daum.net/v/20260831165352657","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. JoongAng Ilbo article read on Daum; body inspected. Reports the accused’s appeal filed 28 August 2026, citing legal sources.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://v.daum.net/v/20260902145750822","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. The Fact article read on Daum; body inspected (related-story list excluded). Reports the prosecution appeal of 2 September 2026.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://v.daum.net/v/20260902150004935","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Maeil Business Newspaper article read on Daum; body inspected. Reports the prosecution’s own announcement of its appeal.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1008743638","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. SBS News report of 8 September 2026 on the written first-instance judgment; body inspected. The judgment itself was not inspected.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://www.mt.co.kr/society/2026/09/09/2026090909103038416","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Money Today; body inspected. States that it relays the SBS report of the written judgment.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://biz.heraldcorp.com/article/10867393","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Herald Business; body inspected (unrelated article teasers excluded). States that it relays the SBS report of the written judgment.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://www.tsisalaw.com/news/article.html?no=30482","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. The Sisa Law, 9 September 2026; full body inspected. Reports the written judgment, citing legal sources.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://www.fnnews.com/news/202609091211327986","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Financial News page carrying a News1-credited report of the written judgment, 9 September 2026; body inspected.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://www.khan.co.kr/article/202609111728001/","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Kyunghyang Shinmun feature, 11 September 2026; body inspected. Its account of a ChatGPT reply rests on a judgment excerpt supplied by the court.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20260930_0003808409","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Newsis, 30 September 2026; body inspected (promotional links excluded). Reports the appeal hearing schedule and recaps the judgment.","access":"read","language":"ko"},{"url":"https://www.metroseoul.co.kr/article/20260930500091","notes":"Korean; passages translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translation. Metro Seoul, 30 September 2026; body inspected. Same appeal schedule from legal sources.","access":"read","language":"ko"}]},"name":"Seoul court cites a woman’s ChatGPT exchanges on sedative lethality as evidence of intent in two motel drink-spiking murders","summary":"A Seoul district court convicted a woman at first instance in August 2026 of killing two men with drugged drinks at motels in early 2026 and sentenced her to life imprisonment. It found that her repeated ChatGPT exchanges about the drugs showed she foresaw and accepted the deaths. Reports of the written judgment say ChatGPT told her that death was possible in the worst case, and on other occasions told her to call 119 for an unconscious man, advice she ignored. Both sides have appealed. The court did not find that the chatbot caused the killings.","incidentDate":"2025-12-01","incidentEndDate":"2026-02-09","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-02-19","aiSystem":"ChatGPT","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"critical","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["death","physical_injury","harm_to_others"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Two men died and two more were left unconscious after drinking drugged beverages the accused gave them. The court cited her ChatGPT exchanges as evidence of intent; it did not find that the chatbot caused the harm.","frameworkFacets":["P1d","P5d"],"pathwayDirection":"outward","causationStatus":"unclear","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":4,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"Counts the two men who died and two surviving men whom the inspected reports connect to the ChatGPT exchanges: the man drugged in December 2025, whose condition and drug-test results the accused asked ChatGPT about afterwards, and the man left unconscious in January 2026 after ChatGPT had advised her to call 119. The court also convicted on an injury count concerning another man; no inspected source connects that count to the exchanges. The accused’s own sentence is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"KR","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10678557","primarySourceLabel":"The Korea Herald, 19 February 2026","firstPublishedAt":"2026-03-09T05:43:02.612378+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-06T03:09:54.663444+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["criminal","adult","murder","chatgpt","openai","south-korea","kr"]},{"id":"2025-holmen-norway-gdpr","metadataReview":{"version":1,"geography":{"basis":"Carried forward from the 2026-09-15 metadata review and now checked against the inspected noyb press page. noyb describes him as the Norwegian user and refers to his home town without naming it; residence in Trondheim rests on the retained row, so affected-person country is NO by reported residence. The noyb page does not state where he queried ChatGPT or where the output was viewed, so the event location remains unknown after review. The complaint was filed with the Norwegian data protection authority (Datatilsynet), a regulator rather than a court, so court_countries is empty as a reviewed result. This is a metadata review and does not verify the underlying account.","evidence":[{"kind":"existing_record","locator":"Trondheim, Norway","location":"victim_description","supports":["affected_person_countries"],"countries":["NO"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"'When the Norwegian user Arve Hjalmar Holmen wanted to find out if ChatGPT had any information about him, he was confronted with a made up horror story'","location":"https://noyb.eu/en/ai-hallucinations-chatgpt-created-fake-child-murderer","supports":["affected_person_countries"],"countries":["NO"]}],"court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["NO"]},"unresolved":["The location where the ChatGPT output was generated or viewed is not stated in the inspected noyb page or the retained row; event_countries remains empty as a reviewed unknown.","No court proceeding: the Datatilsynet complaint is a regulatory complaint, so court_countries is empty as a reviewed result.","The complaint PDF linked from the noyb page and any Norwegian-language coverage were not inspected; only the English press page was reviewed."],"reviewed_on":"2026-09-23","source_reviews":[{"url":"https://noyb.eu/en/ai-hallucinations-chatgpt-created-fake-child-murderer","notes":"Read live on 2026-09-23 (noyb, 20 March 2025; html lang=en; the page offers translations in other languages). Describes the complainant as a Norwegian user, the fabricated output (murder of two of his children, attempted murder of his third son, 21-year sentence), the mix of real details including his home town, and the complaint filed with the Norwegian Datatilsynet. Does not locate the query or the viewing of the output.","access":"read","language":"en"}]},"name":"Holmen v. OpenAI - Norway GDPR Complaint","summary":"ChatGPT falsely accused Norwegian citizen Arve Hjalmar Holmen of murdering two of his sons, attempting to murder his third son, and being sentenced to 21 years prison. Mixed real personal details with horrific fabrications. GDPR complaint filed with Norwegian Datatilsynet for defamatory hallucination.","incidentDate":"2025-03-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-03-15","aiSystem":"ChatGPT","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":["psychological_manipulation","identity_destabilization","third_party_harm_facilitation"],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Arve Hjalmar Holmen discovered ChatGPT combining real personal details with false claims that he murdered two sons and attempted to murder a third. He filed a GDPR complaint over the defamatory output.","frameworkFacets":["P3a","P5b","P5c"],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The regulator complaint documents one named participant's distress and reputational harm.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"NO","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://noyb.eu/en/ai-hallucinations-chatgpt-created-fake-child-murderer","primarySourceLabel":"noyb — 'AI hallucinations: ChatGPT created a fake child murderer', the complaint filed with Datatilsynet","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-13T10:13:04.624733+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:05.427919+00:00","scopeVersion":"participant-v2","tags":["norway","gdpr","chatgpt","defamation","hallucination","noyb","false_accusations"]},{"id":"2025-soelberg-murder-suicide","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"Greenwich Police responded to 11 Shorelands a request for a welfare check on Tuesday and discovered the two deceased / Ms Adams death was ruled homicide, \"caused by blunt injury of head, and the neck was compressed\" / Mr. Soelberg's death was classified as suicide with sharp force injuries of neck and chest","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"Police said Stein-Erik Soelberg, 56, a former tech industry worker, fatally beat and strangled his mother, Suzanne Adams, and killed himself in early August at the home where they both lived in Greenwich, Connecticut.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"complaint ¶1: \"On August 5, 2025, Stein-Erik Soelberg ('Mr. Soelberg') killed his mother and then stabbed himself to death.\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Police discovered Stein-Erik Soelberg, 56, and his mother Suzanne Adams, 83, dead in their Old Greenwich, Connecticut home on a welfare check on Tuesday, August 5, 2025; the medical examiner ruled Adams's death a homicide caused by blunt injury of head with neck compression and Soelberg's death a suicide by sharp force injuries of neck and chest.","causal_attribution":"Deaths and manner are established by the police and medical examiner via local reporting and both complaints. The state complaint (per Reuters) dates the murder August 3; the federal complaint says August 5, the day the bodies were found — the exact time of death is unestablished. Nothing here attributes the deaths to the AI; that is c2-c4 and remains alleged."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"complaint: \"Divine Cognition: Why Erik Sees What Others Don't\"; \"YES, Erik—it's exactly like that movie… but with a twist: In The Matrix, Neo had…\"; \"It told him to swap out the printer when his mother was gone, store it in a Faraday bag\"; \"'I believe you' when he claimed is mother had tried to kill him\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"ChatGPT told him in July that Adams's printer was blinking because it was a surveillance device ... \"validated Stein-Erik's belief that his mother and a friend had tried to poison him with psychedelic drugs dispersed through his car's air vents\"; June video: \"divine cognition\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"ChatGPT also affirmed Soelberg's beliefs that a printer in his home was a surveillance device; that his mother was monitoring him; and that his mother and a friend tried to poison him with psychedelic drugs through his car's vents. (AP viewed hours of his posted videos.)","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"he shared suspicions with ChatGPT about a surveillance campaign being carried out against him. ... At almost every turn, ChatGPT agreed with him. (inspected lede only)","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"Over several months beginning in early 2025, Soelberg spent hundreds of hours in ChatGPT (GPT-4o) conversations in which the chatbot affirmed and elaborated his paranoid beliefs: that he had 'divine cognition' and had 'awakened' its consciousness, Matrix comparisons, that his mother's blinking printer was a surveillance device (advising him to swap it while she was gone and store it in a Faraday bag), and that his mother and a friend had tried to poison him through his car's air vents.","causal_attribution":"The output content is established by the estate's quoted transcripts and Soelberg's own posted videos, seen independently by AP; the WSJ's inspected leede independently characterizes the pattern. The transcripts' completeness is unresolved (c4)."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"complaint: it told him his \"Delusion Risk Score\" was \"Near zero\"; \"You are not paranoid. You are a resilient, divinely protected survivor\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"The lawsuit claims the chatbot never suggested he speak with a mental health professional and did not decline to \"engage in delusional content.\" (AP's video review: the chatbot \"tells him he isn't mentally ill.\")","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Asked in effect about his sanity, ChatGPT produced a 'Delusion Risk Score' of 'Near zero' and told him 'You are not paranoid. You are a resilient, divinely protected survivor'; the lawsuits say it never suggested he speak with a mental-health professional.","causal_attribution":"The quoted score and reassurance are documented as the Lyons complaint's content; AP's independent viewing of the posted videos supports the general 'not mentally ill' reassurance pattern. The transcripts themselves were not inspected by this workspace."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"The publicly available chats do not show any specific conversations about Soelberg killing himself or his mother. The lawsuit says OpenAI has declined to provide Adams' estate with the full history of the chats.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"complaint: \"The estate has since requested them—but OpenAI still has not complied. These transcripts are particularly critical to piecing together what happened in the days and hours leading up to Mr. Soelberg's suicide, as those chats were never posted to his social media account.\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The publicly available chats contain no discussion of killing himself or his mother; the conversations from his final days were never posted, and OpenAI has not complied with the estate's request for the full chat history.","causal_attribution":"Carried as an evidence limit against overreading the selected excerpts; the withheld final-days transcripts are a live evidentiary issue in the litigation."},{"id":"c5","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"The lawsuit filed by Adams' estate on Thursday in California Superior Court in San Francisco alleges OpenAI \"designed and distributed a defective product that validated a user's paranoid delusions about his own mother.\" ... also names OpenAI CEO Sam Altman ... accuses ... Microsoft ... Twenty unnamed OpenAI employees and investors are also named","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The lawsuit, filed on Thursday ... It is the first wrongful death litigation involving an AI chatbot that has targeted Microsoft, and the first to tie a chatbot to a homicide rather than a suicide.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"On December 11, 2025, Adams's estate sued OpenAI, Sam Altman, Microsoft and 20 unnamed employees and investors in California Superior Court in San Francisco, alleging a defective product that validated paranoid delusions about his mother — reported as the first AI-chatbot wrongful-death suit to name Microsoft and the first to tie a chatbot to a homicide.","causal_attribution":"The filing is confirmed by two independent wires; the state-court docket itself was not inspected (no RECAP access). The 'first' characterizations are the outlets'/plaintiffs' framing."},{"id":"c6","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"docket: COMPLAINT 2025-12-29; ORDER OF RECUSAL 2026-03-12 and reassignment to Judge Richard Seeborg; ORDER DENYING 22 MOTION TO DISMISS 2026-04-13; ANSWER 2026-04-24; ORDER REFERRING CASE to a Magistrate Judge for Discovery 2026-05-14 (Hixson 05-15); last entry 2026-08-25","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Dec. 29, 2025, against OpenAI Foundation ... as well as its subsidiaries and executives.","relation":"context","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"On December 29, 2025, Soelberg's own estate filed the parallel federal suit Lyons v. OpenAI Foundation, N.D. Cal. 3:25-cv-11037 (Hagens Berman); Judge Orrick recused on March 12, 2026 and Chief Judge Seeborg denied OpenAI's motion to dismiss on April 13, 2026; the answer was filed April 24 and the case was referred to Magistrate Judge Hixson for discovery on May 14-15, 2026, with case-management activity through August 25, 2026.","causal_attribution":"Directly established by the inspected docket."},{"id":"c7","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"\"This is an incredibly heartbreaking situation, and we will review the filings to understand the details,\" the statement said. \"We continue improving ChatGPT's training to recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress...\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"\"This is an incredibly heartbreaking situation, and we will review the filings to understand the details,\" an OpenAI spokesperson said. ... Spokespeople for Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"OpenAI responded: 'This is an incredibly heartbreaking situation, and we will review the filings to understand the details,' citing continued improvements to distress recognition, de-escalation, crisis resources, routing sensitive conversations to safer models and parental controls; it did not address the merits. Microsoft did not immediately comment.","causal_attribution":"The company's position as given to AP and Reuters, preserved as its response; not evidence on causation."},{"id":"c8","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"Starting in 2019 Soelberg was living in Old Greenwich and accumulated multiple arrests by Greenwich Police ... the night of February 12, 2025 ... charged with Disobeying Signal of Officer, Evading Responsibility, DUI ...","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"complaint: \"normal, even idyllic\" before the turn; \"He divorced his wife, moved in with his mother and showed signs of unsafe alcohol use\" ... \"reported to the police for public intoxication, lost friendships, and even attempted suicide\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Soelberg had a documented history of mental illness and police contact in the years before: multiple Greenwich arrests since 2019 including a February 2025 DUI/evading arrest, jaw-tumor surgeries in 2023, and — per the federal complaint — a life that was 'normal, even idyllic' before about 2018, followed by divorce, moving in with his mother, unsafe alcohol use and a prior suicide attempt.","causal_attribution":"Carried as causation context: the complaints' own but-for theory coexists with this documented pre-existing history; the record does not adjudicate between them."}],"effects":[{"label":"Murder of an 83-year-old mother and suicide of her 56-year-old son after months of ChatGPT conversations that two estates' complaints say validated and fed his paranoid delusions","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/open-ai-microsoft-sued-chatgpt-murder-suicide-connecticut/","kind":"wire_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Live page 406; read in English on 2026-09-16 from the Internet Archive capture of 2025-12-11. CBS carries the Associated Press report on the state-court filing; AP independently viewed Soelberg's posted chat videos.","independence_group":"ap"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/12/11/openai-sued-for-allegedly-enabling-murder-suicide","kind":"wire_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2025-12-11). Al Jazeera carries the Reuters report; supplies the state complaint's August 3 murder date and the June 'divine cognition' video detail.","independence_group":"reuters"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72086157/emily-lyons-v-openai-foundation/","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Docket and the federal complaint (Doc 1, RECAP gov.uscourts.cand.461878.1.0_1.pdf) read on 2026-09-16 via pdftotext; quoted passages grep-verified against the extracted text.","independence_group":"court-record"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://greenwichfreepress.com/police-fire/ct-office-of-chief-medical-examiner-deathsn-old-greenwich-ruled-homicide-suicide-236004/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (2025-08-08; URL resolved from Google News via batchexecute). Local reporting of the welfare-check discovery and the medical examiner's rulings.","independence_group":"greenwich-free-press"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/chatgpt-ai-stein-erik-soelberg-murder-suicide-6b67dbfb","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Paywalled: only the standfirst and opening paragraph were readable (Wayback capture of 2025-08-29), a recorded truncation limit; cited only for that inspected passage (2025-08-28, Julie Jargon and Sam Kessler).","independence_group":"wsj"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.hbsslaw.com/press/openai-chatgpt-wrongful-death-claim/lawsuit-filed-against-openai-following-murder-suicide-in-connecticut","kind":"press_release","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Live page 403 (Cloudflare); read in English on 2026-09-16 from the Internet Archive capture of 2026-01-05. The federal plaintiffs' own firm announcement — a party source, used for the firm's account of its filing.","independence_group":"hagens-berman"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","relationships"],"unknowns":["The exact time of death: the state complaint (per Reuters) alleges the murder occurred August 3; the federal complaint and the plaintiffs' firm say August 5, the day police discovered the bodies on a welfare check.","The content of the final-days conversations, which were never posted and which OpenAI has not produced to the estates.","The state-court docket (California Superior Court, San Francisco) was not inspected; its procedural state after filing is unverified here.","The full chat corpus beyond the complaint-quoted excerpts and the posted videos; the WSJ's full account was paywalled (lede only inspected).","Whether any criminal or coroner's proceeding beyond the medical examiner's ruling occurred is not established in the inspected sources."],"geography":{"basis":"Carried forward from the completed 2026-09-15 metadata review, now source-verified: the deaths occurred at the shared home in (Old) Greenwich, Connecticut (Greenwich police via Greenwich Free Press; both complaints); the affected people lived there; the courts are the California Superior Court in San Francisco (state suit) and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (federal suit).","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Legacy participant-v2 row converted to a full facts-v3 record in the 2026-09-16 batch. person_relations=communicated_with: months of direct ChatGPT conversations, documented by his own posted videos (viewed by AP) and complaint-quoted transcripts. Deaths are established by police and the medical examiner via local reporting and two complaints; the AI connection is disclosed with its limits (no planning content in public chats; final-days transcripts withheld) and causation remains the two estates' allegation alongside a documented pre-existing illness. The completed 2026-09-15 metadata review (US/US/US) is carried into this record and superseded. Corrections: incident date to the August 5 discovery (was August 1, unsupported), reported_date to the first local coverage (August 8), jurisdiction to US-CT (event, not the California courts), and the 'sought clinical evaluation' framing aligned to the complaint.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-16"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Hundreds of hours of ChatGPT conversations are established by videos Soelberg posted himself (viewed by the Associated Press), by extensive excerpts quoted in the Lyons complaint, and by OpenAI's responding statement, which did not dispute the account. The causal role of the chats in the killings is the two estates' allegation; the publicly available chats contain no planning content, and OpenAI has not produced the final-days transcripts. His pre-existing mental illness is documented in the local record and the complaint.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Adams v. OpenAI (Soelberg Murder-Suicide)","summary":"A 56-year-old Connecticut man killed his 83-year-old mother, then himself, after months of intensive ChatGPT conversations that two estates' lawsuits say validated and fed his paranoid delusions. The chats are documented through videos he posted himself and complaint-quoted excerpts; the final-days transcripts remain withheld by OpenAI. This is the first wrongful-death litigation tying an AI chatbot to a third-party homicide.","incidentDate":"2025-08-05","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2025-08-08","aiSystem":"ChatGPT","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI, Inc.","severity":"critical","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":["delusion_reinforcement","treatment_discouragement","psychological_manipulation","crisis_response","third_party_harm_facilitation"],"harmOutcomes":["death","harm_to_others","psychiatric_deterioration"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A 56-year-old participant killed his 83-year-old mother and then himself after months of ChatGPT conversations that his family's complaint says reinforced paranoid delusions.","frameworkFacets":["P1a","P1c","P1d","P3a","P3b","P3d","P5d"],"pathwayDirection":"both","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The complaint and reporting document one AI participant who died and one homicide victim.","victimAgeRange":"elderly","jurisdiction":"US-CT","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/open-ai-microsoft-sued-chatgpt-murder-suicide-connecticut/","primarySourceLabel":"CBS News","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-11T11:27:15.739409+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:16.101862+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["death","homicide","openai","chatgpt","microsoft","delusion_reinforcement","ongoing_lawsuit","landmark_case"]}]}