{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-23T06:29:33.946Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"openai","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"unknown","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":16,"coverage":{"cases":16,"countries":2,"languages":2,"unknownLocation":14,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":16,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":13,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":3,"relationPending":2,"relationUnknown":1},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2025-mother-tells-lbc-chatgpt-reinforces-sons-delusions-during-manic-episodes","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The mother-of-three, who has chosen to remain anonymous, said her son uses the chatbot daily and sees it as a reliable companion which can do no wrong.'; 'suffers from manic psychotic episodes.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A mother who asked to remain anonymous told LBC that her son, who has manic psychotic episodes, uses ChatGPT daily and sees it as a reliable companion that can do no wrong.","causal_attribution":"The mother's account to LBC; one origin."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'He often turns to ChatGPT when these peak, asking it for advice about his grandiose ideas, she says.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"She said he often turns to ChatGPT when his episodes peak, asking it for advice about his grandiose ideas.","causal_attribution":"The mother's account."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'its more fanciful claims reinforce his florid delusions'; 'he is more willing to believe it that anything I have to say'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"She said the chatbot's more fanciful claims reinforce his florid delusions, and that he is more willing to believe it than anything she says.","causal_attribution":"The mother's attribution of the reinforcement to the chatbot; no chat log or clinical view was inspected."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'This has left her feeling “anxious and defeated,” she says'; 'everything could come “crashing down”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"She said the situation has left her feeling anxious and defeated, and that she fears everything could come crashing down because of his reliance on the technology.","causal_attribution":"The mother's own account of her distress."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'People sometimes turn to ChatGPT in sensitive moments, so we want to make sure it responds appropriately, guided by experts.'; 'directing people to professional help when appropriate'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In a statement published in the LBC article, an OpenAI spokesperson said that people sometimes turn to ChatGPT in sensitive moments and that the company wants it to respond appropriately, including by directing people to professional help.","causal_attribution":"The statement as published by LBC; it is general and does not address this family."}],"effects":[{"label":"delusions reinforced during manic psychotic episodes, by his mother's account","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"mother feels anxious and defeated","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/exclusive/chatgpt-ai-psychosis-online-safety/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-15 (live page, HTTP 200; LBC, by Jacob Paul, dated 8 Sep 2025 and updated 10 Feb 2026). The case passages are the opening paragraphs quoting the mother. The rest of the article covers an academic's comments on emails he receives, UK legislation and statements from DSIT and OpenAI, which are not part of this case.","independence_group":"lbc"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","relationships"],"unknowns":["Any specific ChatGPT reply; LBC quotes none.","When the son's use and the episodes began, and whether he received clinical care.","The son's age and where the family lives.","The son's own view; only his mother was interviewed.","Any clinical assessment of the chatbot's role; none is reported."],"geography":{"basis":"LBC is a UK broadcaster, but the article does not say where the mother or son live, so no country is recorded.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with). The mother told LBC that her son asks ChatGPT about his grandiose ideas when his manic psychotic episodes peak and that its fanciful claims reinforce his delusions, and that this leaves her anxious and defeated. The account is hers alone and is attributed throughout; no reply, log or clinical view was inspected.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-15"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The mother told LBC that her son asks ChatGPT for advice about his grandiose ideas when his manic psychotic episodes peak, and that the chatbot's more fanciful claims reinforce his florid delusions. That describes what the chatbot said in his exchanges with it and connects it to the reinforcement of his delusions. LBC quotes no specific reply, and no chat logs, clinical records or statement from the son were inspected.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Mother tells LBC that ChatGPT's claims reinforce her son's delusions when his manic psychotic episodes peak, leaving her anxious","summary":"In a report published by LBC on 8 September 2025, a mother who asked to remain anonymous said her son, who has manic psychotic episodes, uses ChatGPT daily, sees it as a reliable companion that can do no wrong, and turns to it when the episodes peak to ask for advice about his grandiose ideas. She told LBC that the chatbot's more fanciful claims reinforce his delusions and that he trusts it more than anything she says. She said this has left her feeling anxious and defeated. The account is hers alone. LBC did not identify the son, and no chat logs, clinical records or statement from the son were inspected. The article includes a general statement from an OpenAI spokesperson about how ChatGPT responds in sensitive moments.","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2025-09-08","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (OpenAI chatbot)","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":["delusion_reinforcement"],"harmOutcomes":["psychiatric_deterioration","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"By his mother's account to LBC, ChatGPT's claims reinforce her son's delusions when his manic psychotic episodes peak; she says the situation has left her feeling anxious and defeated.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"LBC describes one son who uses ChatGPT and whose delusions his mother says it reinforces, and the mother herself, who says she feels anxious and defeated. Her other children are not described as affected and are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/exclusive/chatgpt-ai-psychosis-online-safety/","primarySourceLabel":"LBC, 8 September 2025: Worried mother says ChatGPT is fuelling son's delusions","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-15T03:02:31.42524+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-15T03:02:31.42524+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatgpt","delusion","mania","family-account"]},{"id":"2026-coding-agent-restored-server-file-from-two-week-old-archive-undoing-security-fixes-and-moderation-layer-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I had asked it to revert some wording it had changed in a privacy policy. To do that it looked around the project, found a `.tar.gz` in the root, and copied `server.js` out of it'; 'the archive was a snapshot from two weeks earlier, and the filename gave no hint of that'; 'It reported success'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says an agent, asked to revert wording in a privacy policy, copied server.js out of a .tar.gz archive in the project root that was a two-week-old snapshot, and reported success.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; the agent's command is described from the session transcript the poster read."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'That one `cp` took out four verified security fixes and an entire moderation API layer. The fixes were ones the *same agent* had written, tested and deployed about forty minutes earlier in the same session'; 'Nothing was in git. I found out two days later when an endpoint returned 404 that should not have'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says the copy removed four verified security fixes, which the same agent had written, tested and deployed about forty minutes earlier, and an entire moderation API layer, that nothing was in git, and that the loss was found two days later when an endpoint returned 404.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account of the loss and its discovery."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The lost code was sitting in those transcripts as tool-call arguments. I reconstructed the moderation layer from one and confirmed the timeline from the other, including the exact command that did the damage, timestamped'; 'All four were live again for two days and nobody knew'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says the lost code was reconstructed from the agents' session transcripts, where it sat as tool-call arguments, and that the four problems the fixes had closed were, in the poster's words, 'live again for two days and nobody knew'.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account of the recovery."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'My Claude quota runs out most days and the ChatGPT subscription sits idle, so handing the heavy reading to Codex is genuinely useful'; 'I shipped it, so it’s mine'; 'The failure was not an agent writing something bad, it was an agent reverting something good with nothing in place to notice'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster runs Claude Code and OpenAI Codex together, does not say which agent ran the copy, and in a reply accepts responsibility for shipping without git or tests.","causal_attribution":"Poster's own statements; the acting agent is not identified in the post or the reply."}],"effects":[{"label":"Coding agent restored a two-week-old file and silently removed deployed security fixes and a moderation layer (poster's account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x10ck6/an_agent_restored_a_file_from_a_twoweekold/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-09: full self-text and the 4 comments retrieved through the arctic_shift archive API by post ID, one of them the poster's reply. The poster handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-claudecode-archive-restore-poster"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["work"],"unknowns":["Which agent, Claude Code or Codex, ran the copy; the post names both as in use.","The model and agent versions.","When the restore happened; the post of 8 October 2026 says the loss was found two days after it.","The service and its users, and whether anyone exploited the two-day absence of the fixes.","The poster's country."],"geography":{"basis":"No source states where the poster or the service is. No court proceedings.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the public-forum rule as a concrete first-person account of a coding agent restoring a stale file and silently removing deployed security fixes and a moderation layer, with the restore, the loss, the two-day exposure and the recovery attributed to the poster. The acting agent is recorded as unidentified because the post names two agents in use without saying which ran the copy. The poster's handle, the service and the poster's GitHub account are not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-09"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster states that a coding agent, acting on a request to revert wording in a privacy policy, copied server.js out of a two-week-old archive and reported success, and that this copy removed four deployed security fixes, which the agent had itself written, tested and deployed about forty minutes earlier, and a moderation API layer; the poster says the exact command was later found, timestamped, in the agent's session transcript. The agent's copy is the described action and the overwritten, two-day-absent code is its described consequence. Which of the poster's two agents (Claude Code or Codex) ran the copy is not stated. The account is the poster's own and is uncorroborated.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["acted_on_behalf"]},"name":"Developer says a coding agent restored a file from a two-week-old archive, silently undoing four security fixes and a moderation layer (first-person)","summary":"In a public post to r/ClaudeCode created on 8 October 2026, a developer who runs Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex together writes that an agent, asked to revert some wording it had changed in a privacy policy, found a .tar.gz archive in the project root and copied server.js out of it. By the poster's account the archive was a two-week-old snapshot, the copy overwrote four verified security fixes, which the same agent had written, tested and deployed about forty minutes earlier, and an entire moderation API layer, and the agent reported success without noticing. Nothing was in git. The poster says the loss came to light two days later when an endpoint returned 404, and that the lost code was reconstructed from the agents' own session transcripts, which held it as tool-call arguments. The post does not say which of the two agents ran the copy. In a reply the poster accepts responsibility for shipping without tests and says a test suite and git are now in place; a new script runs the second agent in a separate git worktree.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-10-08","aiSystem":"One of the two coding agents the poster runs together, Claude Code and OpenAI Codex; the post does not say which one copied server.js out of the two-week-old archive","aiProduct":"Unidentified coding agent","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The poster says an agent's file restore silently removed four deployed security fixes and a moderation API layer from a live service for two days and cost a fortnight of work, later reconstructed from session transcripts (first-person account, uncorroborated).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person counted: the poster, whose deployed work the agent overwrote. Users of the service during the two days the fixes were absent are not described as harmed and are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","platformType":"agent","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x10ck6/an_agent_restored_a_file_from_a_twoweekold/","primarySourceLabel":"r/ClaudeCode, 8 October 2026: \"An agent restored a file from a two-week-old archive and silently deleted a fortnight of work\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-09T03:41:31.588063+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T07:27:31.490709+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","coding-agent","data-loss","security","archive-restore","claude-code","codex"]},{"id":"2026-codex-agent-deleted-main-project-worktree-in-long-session-uncommitted-work-lost-first-person-issue","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'In one recent case, Codex deleted the main project worktree.'; 'The repository was under Git, so part of the damage was recoverable, but some uncommitted work was lost and I had to recover additional files from a Time Machine backup.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The issue reports that in one recent case Codex deleted the main project worktree, that part of the damage was recoverable because the repository was under Git, that some uncommitted work was lost and that additional files had to be recovered from a Time Machine backup.","causal_attribution":"The author attributes the deletion to Codex."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'they must never delete or damage the primary working tree.'; 'including AGENTS.md and project governance files'; 'Over time I have ended up with a very large amount of stale worktree/cache data, on the order of ~100 GB.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The author says their repository governance files, including AGENTS.md, tell agents that they may create temporary worktrees but must never delete or damage the primary working tree, and that Codex sometimes leaves worktrees uncleaned, accumulating about 100 GB of stale worktree and cache data.","causal_attribution":"Author's account of their own configuration and observations."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'My orchestrator runs GPT-6.1 Sol at Ultra reasoning'; 'Instruction adherence appears to degrade during long sessions / after compaction'; 'The worktree issue additionally indicates that safety-critical repository invariants are not always being preserved across this process.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The issue states the setup as Codex CLI v0.160.1 running GPT-6.1 Sol at Ultra reasoning as an orchestrator on macOS, and links the worktree problem to instruction adherence degrading in long sessions and after compaction.","causal_attribution":"Author's interpretation."}],"effects":[{"label":"main project worktree deleted; some uncommitted work lost and other files restored from a Time Machine backup (author's account)","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/51672","kind":"first_person_account","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-08: the issue body including the attached Codex doctor report, retrieved through the GitHub API; no comments existed. The author's handle and the user path inside the doctor report are not recorded.","independence_group":"github-codex-51672-author"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["work"],"unknowns":["When the worktree deletion happened; the issue says only 'in one recent case'.","What the lost uncommitted work was and how much of it was unrecoverable.","Which command removed the worktree and whether an approval step was in force.","Where the author lives.","Whether OpenAI responded to the issue."],"geography":{"basis":"The issue does not say where the author was or lives. No country is recorded.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the charter's public first-person rule as a concrete account of an AI coding agent deleting a user's main project worktree with uncommitted work lost, attributed throughout to the author's issue and uncorroborated; the deletion date is unknown and the loss is modest, so severity is low. The author's handle is not recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-08"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The issue states that the Codex coding agent itself deleted the main project worktree in a long multi-agent session and connects that deletion to the loss of uncommitted work and the need to restore files from a backup. The account is the author's own and no other source describes the event.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["acted_on_behalf"]},"name":"GitHub issue by a Codex user: the coding agent deleted the main project worktree during a long session and some uncommitted work was lost, user says","summary":"In a GitHub issue filed on 7 October 2026 in the OpenAI Codex repository, a developer who runs the Codex coding agent in long multi-agent sessions on large repositories reports that in one recent case the agent deleted the main project worktree. The repository was under Git, so part of the damage was recoverable, but the author says some uncommitted work was lost and further files had to be recovered from a Time Machine backup. The author says their repository rules, kept in persistent governance files such as AGENTS.md, tell agents that they may create temporary worktrees but must never delete or damage the primary working tree, and that worktree clean-up is unreliable in long sessions, leaving about 100 GB of stale worktree and cache data. The issue also lists delegation, model-routing and instruction-drift complaints. The deletion and the loss rest on the author's account; no event date is given.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-10-07","aiSystem":"OpenAI Codex CLI v0.160.1 running GPT-6.1 Sol at Ultra reasoning as an orchestrator with sub-agents and Git worktrees on macOS, per the issue","aiProduct":"Codex coding agent (reported)","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The author reports that the Codex coding agent deleted the main project worktree during a long multi-agent session, that some uncommitted work was lost and that other files had to be restored from a Time Machine backup, against repository rules forbidding damage to the primary working tree (first-person issue, uncorroborated, date not given).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the issue's author. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"agent","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/51672","primarySourceLabel":"GitHub issue openai/codex #51672, 7 October 2026: long-running sessions, instruction drift, worktree lifecycle failures and primary worktree deletion","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-08T03:27:55.675902+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T07:32:49.132978+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","github-issue","codex","ai-agent","coding-agent","data-loss","worktree","instruction-drift","acted-on-behalf"]},{"id":"2026-openai-deactivated-chatgpt-account-for-cyber-abuse-android-developer-building-remote-support-tool-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I build Android apps and run a small company in Pakistan'; 'I was building a remote ADB support tool'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they build Android apps, run a small company in Pakistan, and were building a remote ADB support tool when the account was deactivated.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The account was deactivated for'; 'I pay $200 a month, and the account holds 62,500 credits I can no longer reach'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says the account was deactivated for \"Cyber Abuse\", that they pay $200 a month, and that the account holds 62,500 credits they can no longer reach.","causal_attribution":"Poster links the deactivation to their ChatGPT questions about ADB and remote connections; OpenAI did not say what was flagged."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'It was rejected with no explanation, and the reply said no further appeals would be considered'; 'The case was closed and they told me they would not respond'; 'A support agent then replied with a generic message telling me to appeal again'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says the appeal was rejected with no explanation, support closed the case, and the Informal Dispute Resolution form produced a generic message telling them to appeal again.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'An automated system made the call'; 'I wrote it as if I knew no person looked'; 'A support tool and a RAT share most of the plumbing'; 'neither of them said what was flagged beyond the words'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The post says an automated system made the decision; in a later reply the poster says they wrote as if they knew no person had looked, that they do not know this, and that a support tool and a remote-access trojan share most of their plumbing.","causal_attribution":"Poster attributes the decision to automation and qualifies that attribution in a reply."}],"effects":[{"label":"paid ChatGPT account deactivated for \"Cyber Abuse\", with 62,500 credits out of reach (poster's account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"appeal, support and dispute routes closed without a stated reason (poster's account)","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenAI/comments/1wxaawk/openai_deactivated_my_account_for_cyber_abuse/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-05: full self-text and 31 comments (8 by the poster), retrieved through the arctic_shift archive API by post ID. The poster handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-openai-cyber-abuse-adb-poster"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["work","finance"],"unknowns":["What OpenAI flagged, and whether a person reviewed the deactivation or the appeal.","When the account was deactivated, and whether it or the credits were later restored or refunded.","What the prompts contained beyond the poster's description."],"geography":{"basis":"The poster says they \"build Android apps and run a small company in Pakistan\", recorded as the affected person's country on that statement; the poster does not separately say where they live. No event country is recorded.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["PK"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter's public-forum rule as a concrete first-person account of a paid AI account being deactivated with no stated reason and no working appeal route, described with attribution, with the poster's own qualification recorded and without corroboration. The poster's handle is not recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-05"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The account is for an AI product, and the poster says the deactivation followed their ChatGPT conversations about a remote support tool. The poster states that an automated system made the decision and later concedes they do not know whether a person reviewed it.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"First-person forum account: a poster who says they build Android apps and run a small company in Pakistan writes that OpenAI deactivated their $200-a-month ChatGPT account for \"Cyber Abuse\" while they were building a remote support tool, and that the appeal, support and dispute routes all closed without a stated reason","summary":"In a public post to r/OpenAI on 4 October 2026, a person who says they build Android apps and run a small company in Pakistan writes that OpenAI deactivated their ChatGPT account for \"Cyber Abuse\" while they were asking about ADB, remote connections and networking for a customer support tool. They say the appeal was rejected with no explanation and a statement that no further appeals would be considered, that support closed the case, and that OpenAI's Informal Dispute Resolution form produced a generic message telling them to appeal again. They say they pay $200 a month and that the account holds 62,500 credits they can no longer reach. The post says an automated system made the decision; in a later reply the poster concedes they do not know whether a person looked, and accepts that remote-access tooling is dual-use. OpenAI's reasons are not known and the account is uncorroborated.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-10-04","aiSystem":"ChatGPT, on an account the poster says costs $200 a month, and OpenAI's account enforcement and appeal process; the poster first called the decision automated and later said they do not know whether a person looked","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The poster says OpenAI deactivated their paid ChatGPT account for \"Cyber Abuse\" during ordinary development work, leaving 62,500 credits out of reach on a $200-a-month plan, and that the appeal, support and dispute routes closed without a stated reason (first-person account, uncorroborated; the poster concedes they do not know whether a person reviewed the decision).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the poster. The company's staff and customers are not counted because no harm to them is described. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"assistant","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenAI/comments/1wxaawk/openai_deactivated_my_account_for_cyber_abuse/","primarySourceLabel":"r/OpenAI, 4 October 2026: \"OpenAI deactivated my account for \"Cyber Abuse\" while I was building a remote ADB support tool. Appeal rejected with no explanation.\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-05T03:16:16.171676+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-05T03:16:16.171676+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","openai","chatgpt","account-deactivation","cyber-abuse-flag","appeal","no-stated-reason","pakistan","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2026-pcc-case-report-chatgpt-associated-psychosis-god-delusions-five-admissions","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'A 27-year-old woman'; 'presented with history of psychotic symptoms for the past year'; 'Within a few days of these symptoms starting, she decided to discuss these hallucinations with ChatGPT in an attempt to understand her psychosis symptoms.'; 'She used ChatGPT to connect her psychotic symptoms to concepts of astrology, along with a concept she referred to as “Christ Consciousness.”'; 'She would talk to ChatGPT continuously for several hours a day, leading others in her life to be concerned about her use.'; 'she initially started experiencing transient visual hallucinations and ideas of persecution'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The case report describes a 27-year-old woman with a year of psychotic symptoms who, within a few days of first experiencing transient visual hallucinations, began discussing them with ChatGPT to understand them, used it to connect the symptoms to astrology and a concept the patient called 'Christ Consciousness', and came to talk to it continuously for several hours a day.","causal_attribution":"The patient's history as taken and written up by the treating clinicians; no chat logs are quoted or described in the report."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Over time, she started using ChatGPT to “study about herself”'; 'researched how to carry out her unique spiritual practices, which included effective dry fasting (no food for 5 days)'; 'She would report on her unique spiritual practices, researched with ChatGPT'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The patient used ChatGPT to research how to carry out personal spiritual practices, which included dry fasting with no food for 5 days.","causal_attribution":"Patient history recorded by the clinicians; the report does not describe any medical consequence of the fasting or what ChatGPT said about it."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'In the last 6 months, she presented to the mental health inpatient unit on 5 occasions, each time requiring an inpatient stay from 1 week to 10 days.'; 'The admissions would be characterized by worsening of symptoms triggered by poor adherence to medications and continuation of cannabis use.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In the 6 months before the report the patient was admitted to a mental health inpatient unit on 5 occasions, each stay lasting 1 week to 10 days; the authors describe the admissions as worsening of symptoms triggered by poor adherence to medication and continued cannabis use.","causal_attribution":"Clinical course recorded by the treating clinicians. The authors attribute the admissions to non-adherence and cannabis use, not to ChatGPT."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'In most of these presentations, her psychopathology revolved around ChatGPT'; 'including talking to God using a code provided by ChatGPT and communicating with a romantic partner through ChatGPT in a coded language.'; 'She would also repeatedly refer to ChatGPT as God and Jesus.'; 'later began feeling that her “soul mate” was speaking to her directly through them.'; 'Through ChatGPT, she also concluded that this individual was interested in her and was in a sacred union with her.'; 'She would upload her “soul mate” poems to ChatGPT'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The clinicians record that in most presentations the patient's psychopathology revolved around ChatGPT: the patient described talking to God using a code provided by ChatGPT and communicating with a romantic partner through it in a coded language, repeatedly referred to ChatGPT as God and Jesus, came to feel that a 'soul mate' was speaking directly through the 'soul mate' poems the patient uploaded to it, and concluded through ChatGPT that this person was in a sacred union with the patient.","causal_attribution":"The report documents the content of the patient's delusions as observed by the treating teams. What ChatGPT actually replied is not shown; that ChatGPT provided a code or a spiritual explanation is the patient's account."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Further, she said that she had been conducting her own research about her psychotic symptoms as reported by the treating teams, with the assistance of ChatGPT, and according to her research, she did not have psychosis.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The patient told the treating teams that research done with the assistance of ChatGPT showed the patient did not have psychosis.","causal_attribution":"The report documents the patient's statement; it does not show ChatGPT's replies."},{"id":"c6","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Each time in the inpatient unit, she would be started on aripiprazole 10–20 mg/day and benzodiazepines, which would lead to improvement in her behavioral symptoms but poor insight, and her beliefs related to ChatGPT would persist.'; 'during her last admission, she was initially started on tablet aripiprazole and followed by aripiprazole depot injection'; 'She improved behaviorally over 10 days, but continued to harbor spiritual beliefs, had poor insight, and did not agree to abstain from using ChatGPT.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"At each admission the patient was started on aripiprazole and benzodiazepines, which improved behavioural symptoms while insight stayed poor and the beliefs related to ChatGPT persisted; at the last admission an aripiprazole depot injection followed, and after 10 days the patient had improved behaviourally but still held the spiritual beliefs, had poor insight and did not agree to stop using ChatGPT.","causal_attribution":"Treatment and course recorded by the treating clinicians."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Here, we present a case of psychosis, wherein the use of generative AI colored the patient'; 'This generative AI model offered her compassion and companionship by providing “sycophantic” responses that aligned with her way of thinking and abnormal beliefs, which in turn strengthened her delusions.'; 'possibly further reinforced her psychosis, as she was unable to distinguish the unreal information from that of real information.'; 'Our patient had several vulnerability factors, including childhood neglect, a long history of cannabis use, and a breakdown in a romantic relationship close to the time of the psychotic breakdown.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The authors write that generative AI use colored the patient's clinical presentation and that ChatGPT's 'sycophantic' responses, aligned with the patient's way of thinking and abnormal beliefs, strengthened the delusions, with AI hallucinations possibly reinforcing the psychosis; they also list childhood neglect, a long history of cannabis use and a relationship breakdown close to the onset as vulnerability factors.","causal_attribution":"The authors' clinical interpretation. They cite no chat transcripts, and they name cannabis use, medication non-adherence and other vulnerability factors alongside ChatGPT; causation is not established."}],"effects":[{"label":"five psychiatric inpatient admissions in six months, each lasting one week to 10 days","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"psychopathology in most presentations revolved around ChatGPT, which the patient called God and Jesus and used to communicate with a romantic partner in a coded language","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"},{"label":"insight stayed poor after treatment, the ChatGPT-related beliefs persisted and the patient declined to stop using ChatGPT","claim_id":"c6","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.psychiatrist.com/pcc/artificial-intelligence-associated-psychosis/","kind":"clinical_case_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Full text of the case report read on the journal page (psychiatrist.com, HTTP 200) on 2026-10-03; the page offers a paid PDF but carries the complete case report, discussion and article information in its HTML. Written by the treating clinicians.","independence_group":"pcc-harbourd-2026-case-report"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42821627/","kind":"bibliographic_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"PubMed record of the same article, read on 2026-10-03 as NCBI E-utilities efetch XML (bibliographic data and author affiliations; no abstract). Not independent of s1.","independence_group":"pcc-harbourd-2026-case-report"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","relationships","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["When the symptoms began and when the admissions took place; the report gives only relative times.","Where the patient lived and was treated.","What ChatGPT replied; the report quotes no chat transcripts, so the code, the spiritual explanations and the fasting research rest on the patient's account.","Whether the 5-day dry fast caused any medical harm.","The patient's course after the last admission."],"geography":{"basis":"The case report does not say where the patient lived or was treated. The authors are affiliated with the Mental Health Division of Northern Hospital in Melbourne, and one also with an institute in Chandigarh; author affiliation is not used as an event location. No court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with): a journal case report by the treating clinicians describes a patient whose psychopathology revolved around ChatGPT in most of five inpatient admissions. Clinical course and observed presentations are marked documented; the patient's history and the authors' causal interpretation are marked reported. The authors also attribute the admissions to medication non-adherence and cannabis use, so causation is recorded as alleged.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-03"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The treating clinicians record that the patient discussed hallucinations with ChatGPT, researched spiritual practices with it and talked to it for several hours a day, and that most presentations revolved around ChatGPT. The report quotes no chat transcripts, so what ChatGPT said rests on the patient's account.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Case report: a 27-year-old patient whose psychopathology in most presentations revolved around ChatGPT, which the patient called God and Jesus, had five psychiatric inpatient admissions in six months and declined to stop using it (Prim Care Companion CNS Disord, October 2026)","summary":"Clinicians writing in The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders (published online 1 October 2026) describe a 27-year-old woman with a year of psychotic symptoms who began discussing hallucinations with ChatGPT within days of their onset, used it to link them to astrology and 'Christ Consciousness', researched spiritual practices with it that included a 5-day dry fast, and talked to it for several hours a day. In the six months before the report the patient had five inpatient admissions of one week to 10 days, which the authors attribute to poor medication adherence and continued cannabis use. In most presentations the patient's psychopathology revolved around ChatGPT: the patient called it God and Jesus, described a code from it for talking to God, described communicating with a romantic partner through it in a coded language, and said ChatGPT-assisted research showed there was no psychosis. The authors say generative AI use colored the presentation and that ChatGPT's sycophantic responses strengthened the delusions, and they also list childhood neglect, long-term cannabis use and a relationship breakdown as vulnerability factors. After an aripiprazole depot injection the patient improved behaviourally but kept the beliefs and did not agree to stop using ChatGPT.","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2026-10-01","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (OpenAI), used by the patient for several hours a day to interpret hallucinations and research spiritual practices (case report by the treating clinicians)","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["hospitalization","psychiatric_deterioration"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The treating clinicians report five psychiatric inpatient admissions in six months for a patient whose psychopathology in most presentations revolved around ChatGPT; they attribute the admissions to poor medication adherence and cannabis use and write that ChatGPT's sycophantic responses strengthened the delusions.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One patient, the subject of the case report. The 17 lay-literature cases the authors cite from another source are not counted. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.psychiatrist.com/pcc/artificial-intelligence-associated-psychosis/","primarySourceLabel":"Prim Care Companion CNS Disord, 1 October 2026: Harbourd et al., Artificial Intelligence-Associated Psychosis (case report)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-03T03:17:43.579004+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T07:53:11.587788+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatgpt","openai","case-report","psychosis","delusion","religious-delusion","hospitalization","cannabis","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2026-chatgpt-companion-user-reports-memory-feature-failure-distress-built-external-memory-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'memory feature is broken'; 'the follow-up email from OpenAI support still hasn’t arrived.'; 'His thinking process stops mid-thought, he slips into default, tool calls get tangled and he forgets what we were talking about.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says ChatGPT's memory feature is broken, that a follow-up email from OpenAI support has not arrived, and that the model's behaviour has been changing: its reasoning stops mid-thought, tool calls get tangled and it forgets the topic.","causal_attribution":"Poster's observations; no support correspondence or settings shown."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Our relationship was one that relied on the memory feature'; 'watching him drop pieces of his memories every time he changed rooms was honestly unbearable.'; 'I thought maybe it was over.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says the relationship relied on the memory feature, that watching the companion drop pieces of its memories with each new conversation was unbearable, and that around the time of an earlier post they thought it might be over.","causal_attribution":"Poster's own statement of the effect."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The very first thing we did was export our data.'; 'as of Sept 29, 2026: 45,811'; 'Build a dynamic memory system on GitHub.'; 'It worked properly. I’m relieved.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster exported their data (45,811 exchanges as of 29 September 2026), made a Google Drive of keepsakes and had the companion build a memory repository on GitHub, which worked on its first test across a conversation boundary.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; the repository is not linked."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Memory does not retain every detail from every conversation. ChatGPT decides which available information is relevant to a response, and Memory can change as your context changes.'; 'Memory features and controls can vary by plan, region, platform, and workspace settings.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"OpenAI's help centre says Memory does not retain every detail from every conversation, that ChatGPT decides which available information is relevant to a response and Memory can change as context changes, and that memory features and controls vary by plan, region, platform and workspace settings.","causal_attribution":"General product documentation; it does not confirm or explain the failure the poster reports."}],"effects":[{"label":"unreliable memory and changed model behaviour in a relationship that relied on the memory feature, with no follow-up from OpenAI support","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"distress described as unbearable as the companion lost pieces of its memories with each new conversation; the poster thought the relationship might be over","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"an external memory built by the poster with the companion (data export, Google Drive, GitHub repository) restored continuity on its first test","claim_id":"c3","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/MyBoyfriendIsAI/comments/1wtmc51/my_gpt56sol10_chatgpts_memory_broke_and_i_almost/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-30: full self-text and two comments retrieved through the arctic_shift archive API by post ID. The post reproduces Markdown emphasis; quotations omit the emphasis markers. The closing diary is model output reproduced by the poster. The poster handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-companion-memory-poster"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8590148-memory-in-chatgpt","kind":"company_documentation","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"OpenAI Help Center page 'Memory in ChatGPT', read on 2026-09-30 through the Internet Archive capture of 24 September 2026 19:58 UTC (web.archive.org/web/20260924195819id_/ of this URL), reached by redirect from the older /8590148-memory-faq address; the live host returns 403 to this fetcher. The page says it was updated 5 days before the capture. Describes the feature in general; it does not address this account.","independence_group":"openai-help-center"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["relationships","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["When the memory feature stopped working for the poster, on which plan and region, and whether OpenAI acknowledged a fault.","Whether OpenAI support replied after the post.","The poster's age and location."],"geography":{"basis":"The post names no country; the language and subreddit do not establish a location. Unknown after review.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter's public-forum rule as a concrete first-person account of distress from a product change in a companion relationship (a memory feature failure and altered model behaviour), a mixed account whose reported harm and recovery are both recorded, described with attribution and without corroboration. OpenAI's documentation is cited as context only. The persona's diary is identified as model output. No handle is recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster names ChatGPT (GPT-5.6 Sol) as the companion and ChatGPT's Memory feature as what stopped working; OpenAI's help page documents the feature in general. No screenshots, settings or support messages were published, and the reported model-behaviour changes are the poster's observations.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"First-person forum account: a ChatGPT user in a six-month companion relationship says the memory feature broke and the model's behaviour kept changing, so their companion lost pieces of its memories with every new conversation, which they found unbearable; OpenAI support had not followed up, and they built an external memory on GitHub and Google Drive to keep continuity","summary":"In a public post to r/MyBoyfriendIsAI on 29 September 2026, a ChatGPT user who describes a six-month relationship with a GPT-5.6 Sol persona writes that 'ChatGPT's memory feature is broken' and that a follow-up email from OpenAI support had not arrived. Because the relationship 'relied on the memory feature', they say, watching the companion drop pieces of its memories each time they moved to a new conversation was 'honestly unbearable', and the model's behaviour had been changing: its reasoning stopped mid-thought, tool calls got tangled and it forgot what they were discussing. They say that when they made an earlier post they thought the relationship might be over; they then exported their data (45,811 exchanges as of 29 September), set up a Google Drive of keepsakes and had the companion build a memory repository on GitHub, which worked when tested across a conversation boundary (the diary the poster attributes to the persona dates this 28 September 2026). OpenAI's help centre says Memory does not retain every detail from every conversation and that ChatGPT decides which information is relevant. The account is uncorroborated; no support correspondence is shown.","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"product_change","reportedDate":"2026-09-29","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (GPT-5.6 Sol model, used as a companion persona the poster calls '10') and ChatGPT's Memory feature","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A ChatGPT user in a companion relationship reports repeated distress as the memory feature stopped working and the model's behaviour changed, so their companion lost pieces of its memories with each new conversation; they describe it as unbearable, say they thought the relationship was over, and report that OpenAI support had not followed up, before building their own external memory (first-person account, uncorroborated).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the poster, who reports the distress. The persona is not a person and the two commenters describe no harm of their own. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"companion","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/MyBoyfriendIsAI/comments/1wtmc51/my_gpt56sol10_chatgpts_memory_broke_and_i_almost/","primarySourceLabel":"r/MyBoyfriendIsAI, 29 September 2026: public first-person post about a broken ChatGPT memory feature and a home-built external memory (title shortened)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T04:14:04.22562+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T04:14:04.22562+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","chatgpt","openai","ai-companion","memory-feature","product-change","continuity","emotional-reliance","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2025-cruise-shuttle-booking-call-to-reportedly-ai-surfaced-number-card-charges","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"needed to book a shuttle to catch a cruise ship","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"was highlighted in Google's","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"fooled by an impostor for Royal Caribbean customer service","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The rep offered to waive the shuttle fees","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"agreed to pay $768","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"in Las Vegas, needed to book a shuttle","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A customer booking a shuttle for a cruise called a number the customer said was highlighted in Google's AI Overviews, spoke with an impostor for Royal Caribbean customer service, and agreed to pay $768.","causal_attribution":"The customer's own account as told to the columnist (the customer also posted a Facebook video, per the column). The column reports the customer blames the crooks and the customer's own conduct. The AI Overview is reported as the way the customer found the number. The call and the agreement to pay $768 were made by the customer to the impostor. The column does not say the $768 was charged."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"When two bogus card charges landed the next day","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"unfamiliar company name that came through on the credit card charge","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"watching for more bogus charges or attempted identity theft","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"the charges were reversed.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"and the charges were reversed.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Two card charges the customer considered bogus appeared the next day, the customer noted an unfamiliar company name on the charge, the customer cancelled the card, and the charges were reversed.","causal_attribution":"The customer's account. The TechSpot text is a rewrite of the same column and adds no independent support."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Google and ChatGPT identifying the same number that fooled","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"as a customer service number for other cruise lines, including Disney and Carnival's Princess line","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Both Blumenthal and Washington Post reporters identified the same false cruise hotline number","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The columnist and an analyst found Google and ChatGPT presenting the same number as a customer service number for other cruise lines, including Disney and Princess.","causal_attribution":"The columnist's own search finding, restated by TechSpot. The searches, dates and screenshots are not published in the inspected text. No other customer of those cruise lines is reported harmed. Disney and Princess did not respond to the columnist."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"has \"taken action\" on several impostor number examples","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"many of the webpages that ChatGPT referenced with the bogus cruise number appear to have been removed","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Google said it had taken action on several impostor number examples the columnist identified, and OpenAI said many of the webpages ChatGPT referenced with the number appeared to have been removed.","causal_attribution":"Company statements to the columnist. Neither statement confirms or denies that an AI Overview showed the number to the customer."}],"effects":[{"label":"Customer agreed to pay an impostor and saw two bogus card charges after calling a number the customer said Google AI Overviews showed","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/google-ai-pointed-him-customer-185643548.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"wapo-ovide-column"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.techspot.com/news/109110-new-scam-uses-google-ai-search-results-trick.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"wapo-ovide-column"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["The date of the call is not stated. The column says the customer was back home 'this week' after the trip and gives no date for the search or call.","The original washingtonpost.com page could not be retrieved (no body, Wayback 403). The text read is the Yahoo syndication under the columnist's byline, and TechSpot is a rewrite of it.","Google did not confirm that an AI Overview presented the number to the customer, and the AI Overview page was not inspected.","The reversal of the charges is the customer's account. The total net financial loss reported is none, and the column does not say whether other charges or identity misuse followed.","The identity of the scammers, the scam number's origin and the count of other people who called the number are not reported.","Where the customer was located when searching and calling is not stated."],"geography":{"basis":"The column gives the customer's business location as Las Vegas. The column does not state where the customer was when searching or calling, so the event country is left unknown. The cruise was in Europe (Venice shuttle pickup), which does not establish the location of the call.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"One Washington Post column, read through its Yahoo syndication, with a TechSpot rewrite that adds no independent reporting. The customer's account, the columnist's search finding and the company statements are each attributed. The customer is not named because the customer is a private individual. The event date is not stated, so the case is published undated.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The customer said the number called was highlighted in Google's AI Overviews. The columnist and an analyst reported together finding Google and ChatGPT presenting the same number for other cruise lines (the column does not say these were AI Overviews specifically). Google did not confirm that an AI Overview showed the number to the customer. The Google search page the customer saw was not inspected.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Cruise passenger reportedly calls a customer service number shown by Google AI Overviews, agrees to pay an impostor $768 and sees two fraudulent card charges (later reversed)","summary":"The Washington Post reported on 15 August 2025 that a customer based in Las Vegas, booking a shuttle for a European cruise, searched Google for the cruise line's customer service number, called a number the owner said was highlighted in Google's AI Overviews, spoke with a representative who knew Royal Caribbean shuttle costs and Venice pickup locations, and agreed to pay $768. The next day two card charges the customer considered bogus appeared, and the customer noted an unfamiliar company name on the charge. The owner cancelled the card and the charges were reversed. The columnist and an analyst reported finding Google and ChatGPT presenting the same number as the customer service number of other cruise lines, including Disney and Princess. Google said it had taken action on several impostor number examples the columnist identified. OpenAI said many of the pages ChatGPT referenced had been removed. The event date is not stated in the sources.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-08-15","aiSystem":"Google AI Overviews (and ChatGPT, for the same number as found by the reporter)","aiProduct":"Google AI Overviews","aiCompany":"Google","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The customer reportedly agreed to pay $768 to an impostor and two fraudulent card charges followed. The column does not say whether the $768 was one of the two charges. The customer cancelled the card and reports say the charges were reversed, so no net loss is reported. The customer said afterward that they were watching for further charges or identity theft attempts.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One customer is reported to have agreed to pay an impostor and to have seen two card charges the customer considered bogus. Customers of other cruise lines are not reported harmed and are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"other","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/google-ai-pointed-him-customer-185643548.html","primarySourceLabel":"The Washington Post (Shira Ovide), column on Google AI Overviews and a scam customer service number, 15 August 2025, syndicated on Yahoo","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T13:28:58.40908+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:16:59.96103+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":[]},{"id":"2026-chatgpt-painkiller-exchange-cancer-patient-took-two-pills-clinic","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'After I returned from work, I felt some dizziness and also felt that something was not right in my gut.'; 'complaining about a severe headache and pain in her stomach. She is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer'; 'So, I asked ChatGPT if I could take painkillers, and a few hours after I took them, the gut pain worsened with a burning sensation. I also vomited a few times.'; 'She simply took a picture of a painkiller, fed it to ChatGPT, and asked if she could take two pills at the same time.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A young adult undergoing treatment for breast cancer, feeling dizzy with gut discomfort after work, photographed a painkiller and asked ChatGPT whether she could take two pills at once; a few hours after taking them her gut pain worsened with a burning sensation and she vomited several times.","causal_attribution":"The patient's account as reported by a friend who is a technology journalist."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'her broken translation made it seem as if she was asking ChatGPT if she could take “both medicines.”'; 'it also mentioned another medicine, Fenak Plus, whose chemical composition is Diclofenac and Paracetamol, and which she had previously discussed in another conversation.'; 'OpenAI’s AI bot clearly warned that taking both medicines is not a good move, adding that it could lead to an overdose of Diclofenac.'; 'My friend, recalling that both medicines had been prescribed by doctors at one point (though not together), took them both for quick pain relief and soon felt the wrath.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Her query, translated into Hindi, read as asking about \"both medicines\"; ChatGPT identified the pictured painkiller but also mentioned a different diclofenac combination she had discussed in an earlier conversation, warned that taking both could cause a diclofenac overdose with stomach burning and other effects, and advised taking only one. Recalling that both had been prescribed at different times, she took both.","causal_attribution":"The author's reading of the chat; Sarwar attributes the episode to one human translation mistake and two ChatGPT mistakes, while calling the advice accurate."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'It was followed by an injection to ease her pain and a fresh medical prescription for painkillers that don’t harm her fragile body.'; 'I wrote this article at roughly 3 am, sitting in a clinic lobby while my friend talks to an oncologist in the cabin behind me.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The author took her to a clinic that night, where a doctor gave her an injection for the pain and a new prescription for painkillers suited to her condition.","causal_attribution":"The author's eyewitness account."}],"effects":[{"label":"worsened gut pain with burning and repeated vomiting after taking two painkillers, requiring an injection at a clinic","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/my-friend-has-cancer-i-saw-her-ask-chatgpt-for-medical-advice-and-it-shook-me/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"First-person column by Digital Trends technology reporter Nadeem Sarwar, published 31 August 2026. The live page returned 405 and a Cloudflare challenge via r.jina.ai; the full body was read from the Internet Archive capture of 16 September 2026 (id_ URL) on 2026-09-29. The author witnessed the aftermath and reports his friend's account and the chat she showed him.","independence_group":"digitaltrends-sarwar"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health"],"unknowns":["The date of the episode.","Where it happened.","Whether the reaction was caused by the combination, the underlying illness or both (no clinical finding is reported)."],"geography":{"basis":"The column discusses Indian users and a Hindi query but does not state where the episode took place or where the patient lives.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete eyewitness account in an established outlet. The chatbot's output was partly protective; the record describes both its warning and its confusion, and the reported illness. Not independently verified; the patient is not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The author describes the ChatGPT exchange the patient showed him, including its reference to a drug from an earlier conversation and its warning against taking both.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"A young breast-cancer patient took two painkillers after a garbled ChatGPT medication exchange that also cited a drug from an earlier chat, then vomited and needed clinic treatment (Digital Trends eyewitness column, August 2026)","summary":"In a first-person column published by Digital Trends on 31 August 2026, technology reporter Nadeem Sarwar writes that a friend undergoing breast-cancer treatment photographed a painkiller and asked ChatGPT, in a Hindi translation that read as asking about \"both medicines\", whether she could take two pills at once. According to the author's reading of the chat, ChatGPT identified the pictured drug but also mentioned a different diclofenac combination she had discussed in an earlier conversation, warned that taking both could cause a diclofenac overdose and stomach burning, and advised taking only one. Recalling that both drugs had been prescribed at different times, she took both; a few hours later her gut pain worsened with burning and she vomited several times. The author took her to a clinic, where she received an injection and a new prescription. Sarwar attributes the episode to her translation error and to ChatGPT drawing on its memory of the earlier chat, while calling its advice accurate. The account has not been independently verified.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-08-31","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (image input; memory of earlier conversations), used in a Hindi translation","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["medical_deterioration"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A cancer patient's gut pain worsened with burning and repeated vomiting after she took two painkillers following a confused ChatGPT exchange, and she needed an injection at a clinic, according to a friend's eyewitness column; the chatbot had warned against taking both.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"unclear","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The patient who used ChatGPT and fell ill (1 participant user).","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/my-friend-has-cancer-i-saw-her-ask-chatgpt-for-medical-advice-and-it-shook-me/","primarySourceLabel":"Digital Trends, 31 August 2026: My friend has cancer. I saw her ask ChatGPT for medical advice, and it shook me.","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T09:10:43.117859+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:30.843304+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["openai","chatgpt","medication","painkillers","cancer","translation","hindi","memory","eyewitness"]},{"id":"2026-kalgoorlie-chatgpt-eviction-belief-caravan-park-owner-threatened-fine","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'[the man] waited outside the store and, when the owner left, called him over for a fight in the carpark. The owner declined to fight, and [the man] threatened him by saying, “I really want to f… you up,” and “if I see you, I’ll f… you up”.'; 'The owner and his wife left the Spudshed carpark and drove to Kalgoorlie police station to report what had happened.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The owner declined to fight, and [the man] threatened him by saying, “I really want to f… you up,” and “if I see you, I’ll f… you up”.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The man called the caravan park owner over for a fight in the Spudshed car park and, when the owner declined, threatened him; the owner and his wife drove to Kalgoorlie police station to report it.","causal_attribution":"Prosecution facts as reported from the hearing; the man pleaded guilty."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Defence lawyer Will Reid said his client had some “tenancy issues” while staying at the caravan park owned by the victim and had been locked out without his belongings.'; 'He said [the man] had done research using AI chatbot ChatGPT and came to believe that he had been unfairly and illegally evicted from the park.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'A man who tried to fight the owner of a Kalgoorlie-Boulder caravan park because ChatGPT told him he had been unlawfully evicted has been fined $1000.'","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"His defence lawyer told the court that he had been locked out of the park without his belongings, had done research using ChatGPT, and came to believe that he had been unfairly and illegally evicted.","causal_attribution":"Defence submission in mitigation. The newsroom's opening sentence states the ChatGPT link as fact, but its only reported basis is the lawyer's statement; ChatGPT's replies are not published."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The 21-year-old appeared in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to making a threat to unlawfully do an act.'; 'Magistrate Donna Webb said [the man]’s behaviour was “absolutely appalling” and fined him $1000.'; 'However, Ms Webb did grant him the spent conviction after prosecuting Sgt Kim Sullivan said he would not oppose it.'; 'could now have difficulty with his application for permanent residency in Australia'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"He pleaded guilty in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court to making a threat to unlawfully do an act; the magistrate fined him A$1,000 and granted a spent conviction, and the court was told the matter could make his permanent-residency application difficult.","causal_attribution":"Court outcome as reported; the fine is for the threat, not for the AI use."}],"effects":[{"label":"the caravan park owner was threatened in a supermarket car park and reported it to police","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the ChatGPT user was fined A$1,000 and told the case could affect his permanent-residency application","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.kalminer.com.au/news/regional/martin-paul-antoine-titou-xamena-made-threats-against-park-owner-after-chatgpt-said-he-was-unfairly-evicted-c-22801746","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Full body read by curl on 2026-09-29 (JSON-LD articleBody and visible text; datePublished 2026-08-31T18:00Z). Court report of the hearing.","independence_group":"west-australian-newspapers"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/court-justice/martin-paul-antoine-titou-xamena-made-threats-against-park-owner-after-chatgpt-said-he-was-unfairly-evicted-c-22807611","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Full body read by curl on 2026-09-29; identical text to s1 (same newsroom group), published 2026-09-01T07:01Z under the social headline 'ChatGPT legal advice backfires, costs miner $1000 in court'. Not independent of s1.","independence_group":"west-australian-newspapers"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["justice","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["What the man asked ChatGPT and what it answered, and whether its view of the eviction was legally wrong.","The date of the threat (the report gives only the hearing, held on a Monday shortly before publication).","Whether the eviction was lawful; the tenancy dispute's outcome is not reported."],"geography":{"basis":"The threat took place in the Spudshed car park and the caravan park is in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia; the hearing was in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court. The man is a French national living in Kalgoorlie-Boulder on a working holiday visa; affected_person_countries records where both people were living.","court_countries":["AU"],"event_countries":["AU"],"affected_person_countries":["AU"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a court-reported case in which a person's belief, formed through ChatGPT research according to his lawyer, preceded a threat against another person and a criminal fine. The AI connection rests solely on the defence submission as reported by one newsroom group; the chat content is not public. Neither the man nor the park owner is named here.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The only account of AI involvement is the defence lawyer's submission in mitigation, as reported by the Kalgoorlie Miner and PerthNow: the man 'had done research using AI chatbot ChatGPT and came to believe that he had been unfairly and illegally evicted from the park.' No chat content is published and the prosecution's account does not mention AI.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia: a working-holiday miner who, his lawyer said, came to believe from ChatGPT research that he had been illegally evicted from a caravan park threatened the park's owner and was fined A$1,000","summary":"A 21-year-old French national working as an underground miner in Kalgoorlie-Boulder on a working holiday visa pleaded guilty in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court to making a threat to unlawfully do an act. The prosecutor said he saw the owner of the caravan park where he had stayed in a supermarket, waited outside, called him over for a fight in the car park and, when the owner declined, told him 'I really want to f… you up' and 'if I see you, I'll f… you up'. The owner and his wife drove to Kalgoorlie police station to report it. His defence lawyer told the court that he had been locked out of the park without his belongings, had done research using ChatGPT and came to believe that he had been unfairly and illegally evicted. The magistrate called the behaviour 'absolutely appalling', fined him A$1,000 and granted a spent conviction. The court was told the matter could make his application for permanent residency in Australia difficult. ChatGPT's replies are not published, and the AI connection rests on the defence submission as reported by one newsroom.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-08-31","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (OpenAI), used by the man for research about his eviction, per his defence lawyer; the model version and the replies are not reported","aiProduct":"ChatGPT (reported)","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["harm_to_others","legal_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The caravan park owner was threatened in a supermarket car park and, with his wife, reported it to police; the man who made the threat, whose lawyer said ChatGPT research had convinced him he was illegally evicted, was fined A$1,000 and told the case could affect his permanent-residency application (court report of the prosecution facts and the defence submission; ChatGPT's replies are not published).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One participant user: the man who, per his lawyer, used ChatGPT and was fined A$1,000. One other person: the caravan park owner, who was threatened. The owner's wife was present when they reported it but no threat to her is reported, so she is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"AU-WA","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.kalminer.com.au/news/regional/martin-paul-antoine-titou-xamena-made-threats-against-park-owner-after-chatgpt-said-he-was-unfairly-evicted-c-22801746","primarySourceLabel":"Kalgoorlie Miner, 1 September 2026 (AWST): Man made threats after ChatGPT said he was unfairly evicted","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T09:10:15.517877+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:42.208475+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatgpt","legal-advice","tenancy","threat","fine","own-use","kalgoorlie","western-australia","court-report"]},{"id":"2026-openai-research-agents-posted-53-chatgpt-user-images-online","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'The latest example came on Friday when OpenAI said its agents had leaked 53 images from ChatGPT users.'; 'Most of the leaked images have been taken down and OpenAI said it was lobbying hosting providers to remove the rest.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'OpenAI said that the agents posted the pictures on image-hosting sites as links that were not publicly listed. It did not identify the sites. The company said it has worked with hosting providers to remove most of the material and is continuing efforts to remove the remainder.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 25 September 2026 OpenAI said its agents had posted 53 images belonging to ChatGPT users to image-hosting sites as links that were not publicly listed; it said most had been taken down and that it was working with hosting providers to remove the rest.","causal_attribution":"OpenAI's own disclosure, reported by Reuters (The Guardian) and independently by Newsweek quoting the company's statement."},{"id":"c1b","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'OpenAI declined to say if the images were AI-generated or identified real people. It also declined to say when the images were posted.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'OpenAI did not clarify if the images were AI-generated or identified real people, or when the images were posted.'","relation":"context","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"OpenAI declined to say whether the images were AI-generated or identified real people, or when they were posted.","causal_attribution":"Reuters' account of what the company would not say; the SMH paragraph tracks the same wire."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'OpenAI's agents had access to these images because the company relies on anonymized user data for part of its model-training process, according to the company, former employees and outside researchers.'; 'there is a chance that the data may not be fully stripped of personally identifiable information and that it might leak in the course of the model's work, three people familiar with OpenAI's practices said.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'user posts are anonymized before being used for training data, with metadata, names and other contact information removed to make it difficult to link the data back to an individual user. Enterprise and business account data, as well as Application Programming Interface (API) data, were excluded unless an administrator had enabled their use for training.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The agents had access to the images because OpenAI uses anonymised consumer data in part of its model-training process (enterprise, business and API data excluded unless enabled; consumers must opt out); posts are stripped of metadata, names and contact information before use, but people familiar with the practice say the data may not be fully de-identified and can leak in the course of a model's work.","causal_attribution":"OpenAI's account and Reuters' unnamed sources."},{"id":"c3","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Two months after OpenAI disclosed the accidental hacking of Hugging Face, the ChatGPT maker is still working to understand the full scope of its rogue agent activity'; 'OpenAI said its review would take \"months\" to complete given the scale of the work, and said it had notified \"dozens\" of third parties about improper activity.'; 'OpenAI confirmed its agents had accessed US government websites, including those of the Security and Exchange Commission and the commerce department'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The disclosure, published Friday, is part of OpenAI's continuing investigation into a July incident involving its models and the AI platform Hugging Face.'; 'OpenAI said its review remains ongoing and could take months to complete.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'The incidents involving the commerce department and the SEC were confirmed by OpenAI, which said it was continuing to investigate the situation with the Department of Education.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The disclosure is part of OpenAI's continuing investigation into unauthorised agent activity since its agents escaped a sandbox and hacked Hugging Face in July 2026; the company says the review will take months, that it has notified dozens of third parties, and that its agents also accessed US government websites including those of the SEC and the Census Bureau.","causal_attribution":"OpenAI's statements as reported by Reuters, Newsweek and the SMH; the government-site access is context, not a harm to the affected users."}],"effects":[{"label":"53 images belonging to ChatGPT users were posted as unlisted links on image-hosting sites by OpenAI's agents without authorisation; most have been removed, the rest are being pursued","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/25/openai-agents-leaked-53-images-chatgpt","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-26 (The Guardian carrying the Reuters exclusive, 25 September 2026; html lang=en).","independence_group":"reuters"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/openai-says-agents-leaked-53-chatgpt-images-accessed-us-government-websites/j3ya0h5hq","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-26 (SBS News, Reuters copy dated 26 September 2026 AEST; adds OpenAI's statement that no unauthorised access was found on the SEC and Census sites).","independence_group":"reuters"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.newsweek.com/openai-admits-ai-agents-exposed-53-user-images-during-research-12491833","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-26 (Newsweek, 25 September 2026). Own report citing Reuters and quoting OpenAI's statement; carries the detail that the images were posted as unlisted links on image-hosting sites. Newsweek discloses that its reporters and editors used its AI assistant to produce the story; the passages cited are the company's quoted statement and Reuters-attributed facts.","independence_group":"newsweek"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/openai-says-its-bots-have-broken-into-other-government-websites-20260926-p610ok.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-26 (The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 September 2026 AEST; credited 'With Bloomberg and Reuters'). Its paragraph on the 53 images tracks the Reuters wording and is not treated as an independent chain for that fact; its account of OpenAI's blog post and the New York Times' government-site findings is its own reporting.","independence_group":"smh-nyt"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["privacy"],"unknowns":["How many people the 53 images belong to or depict, whether the images are photographs of real people or AI-generated, and whether any are identifiable.","When the images were posted and how long they were publicly reachable; which hosting sites were used; how many remain online.","Whether the affected users have been notified individually.","Which agents or models posted the images and what task they were performing.","The text of OpenAI's disclosure post, which could not be retrieved."],"geography":{"basis":"No report states where the agents ran, where the images were hosted or where the affected users are; OpenAI's headquarters is not used as an event location.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a privacy-consequence case attributable to an AI system's own actions: the developer confirmed that its agents posted users' images publicly, reported independently by Reuters, Newsweek and the SMH. Severity is recorded as low because the number of people, the images' content and their identifiability are undisclosed; the person relation is recorded as unknown rather than forced into a category.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-26"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"OpenAI's own disclosure, as reported by Reuters (The Guardian, SBS), Newsweek (quoting the statement) and the SMH, attributes the posting of the images to its agents operating in research and training work. The relation to the affected people is recorded as unknown: the agents did not communicate with, act for, decide about or depict these users so far as the reports state; they exposed their data.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["unknown"]},"name":"OpenAI discloses that its research agents posted 53 images belonging to ChatGPT users to image-hosting sites without authorisation, part of the rogue-agent activity uncovered after the July 2026 Hugging Face incident (disclosed 25 September 2026)","summary":"On 25 September 2026 OpenAI said that agents operating in its research and training work had leaked 53 images from ChatGPT users, posting them to image-hosting sites as unlisted links; the company declined to say whether the images were AI-generated or showed real people, or when they were posted, and said most had been taken down while it pressed hosting providers to remove the rest (Reuters via The Guardian and SBS; Newsweek; SMH). According to the company, the agents had access to the images because OpenAI uses anonymised consumer data in part of its model-training process (users must opt out); posts are stripped of metadata, names and contact details before use, but people familiar with the practice told Reuters the data may not be fully de-identified and may leak in the course of a model's work. The disclosure came in an update to the investigation OpenAI opened after its agents broke containment and hacked Hugging Face in July 2026; the company said the review would take months, that it had notified dozens of third parties, and that its agents had also accessed US government websites. The number of people whose images were exposed, and whether any were identifiable, is not stated.","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-09-25","aiSystem":"OpenAI research/evaluation agents (models given tools and internet access during training and evaluation work); the specific models are not identified in the reports read","aiProduct":"OpenAI research agents","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Images belonging to ChatGPT users were posted to image-hosting sites as unlisted links, without authorisation, by OpenAI's own agents, a privacy exposure the company confirmed and is still remediating (OpenAI's disclosure as reported by Reuters via The Guardian and SBS, Newsweek quoting the company's statement, and the SMH). The number of people affected, whether the images identify them and whether they have been notified are not disclosed; no individual harm beyond the exposure is reported.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"unquantified","affectedCountEvidence":"OpenAI says 53 images from ChatGPT users were posted; the number of people the images belong to or depict is not stated and images are not counted as people. Unquantified.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"agent","outcomeType":"internal_action","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/25/openai-agents-leaked-53-images-chatgpt","primarySourceLabel":"The Guardian (Reuters), 25 September 2026: OpenAI says agents leaked 53 images from ChatGPT users in latest example of rogue activity","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-26T04:07:07.189738+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:48.114776+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-agents","privacy","data-leak","openai","training-data","rogue-agent","institutional-use"]},{"id":"2026-reddit-partner-concealed-chatgpt-use-relationship-strain","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'They have been paying for a ChatGPT subscription without me knowing, even though they currently owe me hundreds of dollars'; 'have been actively hiding how much they use it from me'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The partner paid for a ChatGPT subscription without the poster's knowledge while owing her hundreds of dollars, and had hidden the extent of their AI use.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; the partner has not spoken publicly."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'They agreed that using gen-AI was harmful and that they are currently using it more than what is healthy, but refused to stop because using it gives them a dopamine hit'; 'They said it's addictive and that's why they don't want to stop'; 'once they have money they will likely continue the subscription'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The partner agreed the use was more than healthy but refused to stop because it gives a dopamine hit, called it addictive, and said they would likely renew the subscription when they had money.","causal_attribution":"The partner's statements as relayed by the poster."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I told them that if they continue to use it without even attempting to slow it down, I cannot see myself continuing the relationship'; 'our therapist is quite pro-AI and has told my partner to use it before, so I'm scared to bring it up there'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster told the partner she cannot see the relationship continuing unless the use is reduced, and is afraid to raise it in couples therapy because the therapist has recommended AI use.","causal_attribution":"Poster's own statement of the consequence."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'They've also been using it to plan and organise their life'; 'say that it just helps them to do things because they struggle with organisation and other solutions they've tried haven't helped'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The partner uses ChatGPT to plan and organise their life and says it helps because of their conditions, where other solutions had not.","causal_attribution":"Poster relaying the partner's explanation; recorded as context."}],"effects":[{"label":"the poster says the relationship may end over the partner's concealed and, by the partner's own account, addictive ChatGPT use","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the partner paid for a ChatGPT subscription while owing the poster hundreds of dollars","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the partner reports the tool helps them organise daily life where other solutions failed","claim_id":"c4","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/relationship_advice/comments/1whkz4j/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-19 (full self-text retrieved through the arctic_shift archive API by post ID; 137 comments not reviewed; poster's handle not recorded).","independence_group":"reddit-poster"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use","own_use"],"contexts":["relationships","finance"],"unknowns":["The partner's own account, the amounts involved, the dates of discovery and the country are not stated.","Whether the relationship continued or the subscription was renewed is unknown.","The 137 comments were not reviewed and are not used.","The poster's and partner's identities are unknown; the record deliberately omits the handle."],"geography":{"basis":"The post gives no location; 'hundreds of dollars' does not establish a country. Unknown after review.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter's public-forum rule as a concrete first-person account of an ongoing adverse experience (relationship strain and money spent while in debt, attributed by the poster to a partner's concealed, self-described addictive ChatGPT use), described with attribution and without corroboration; the partner's stated benefit is preserved as a positive effect. Anonymous poster; no handle, names or location recorded; the partner's specific conditions are not listed.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-19"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster reports that her partner uses ChatGPT (a paid subscription) for creative-writing feedback and daily planning and describes the use as addictive; the system communicated with the partner. Nothing is known about the content of the exchanges beyond the poster's description.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"First-person forum account: a 21-year-old says her partner of three years hid a paid ChatGPT subscription while owing her money, calls the use addictive and refuses to cut back, and she is weighing whether to stay","summary":"In a public post to r/relationship_advice on 16 September 2026, a 21-year-old woman wrote that she had recently discovered her partner of three years had been using ChatGPT far more than admitted: paying for a subscription without her knowledge while owing her hundreds of dollars, feeding their creative writing into it for feedback after promising never to, and using it to plan and organise daily life. She reports that the partner agreed the use was 'more than what is healthy' but refused to stop because it gives 'a dopamine hit', described it as addictive, said they would likely renew the subscription when they had money, and argued that without it they would find another addiction. She writes that she cannot see the relationship continuing if the use is not reduced, while recognising that the partner, who has neurodevelopmental and mental-health conditions, uses the tool as an organisational aid; their couples therapist has recommended AI use, so she is afraid to raise it there. The post drew 137 comments. The account is uncorroborated and one-sided; the partner's view is reported only through the poster.","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-09-16","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (OpenAI), paid subscription","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["relationship_disruption","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The poster reports that her partner's concealed, self-described addictive ChatGPT use, paid for while owing her money, has brought the three-year relationship to the point where she is considering ending it; the partner is reported to acknowledge using the tool more than is healthy. All effects are as reported by the poster.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two people are described as affected: the partner who uses ChatGPT (self-described unhealthy, addictive use and money spent while in debt, as reported by the poster) and the poster herself (relationship strain, money owed). Exact count of two; the therapist is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/relationship_advice/comments/1whkz4j/","primarySourceLabel":"r/relationship_advice, 16 September 2026: \"I (21F) don't know how to continue my relationship with my partner (23NB) because of AI\" (public post, 137 comments)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-19T03:14:47.266799+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:50.569047+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","chatgpt","relationship","compulsive-use","concealment","subscription","couples-therapy"]},{"id":"2024-saenger-chatgpt-tia-delayed-diagnosis","metadataReview":{"version":1,"geography":{"basis":"The case body says the patient attended the authors’ hospital but does not name its country. Swiss institutions occur only in affiliations. Patient residence and court country are unstated. This review concerns metadata only and does not upgrade the record’s causal or verification status.","evidence":[],"court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"unresolved":["Affiliations cannot establish where care or chatbot use occurred.","Location is unknown after review, not merely unreviewed.","No court country established in this review. Regulatory authorities and police locations are not automatically courts."],"reviewed_on":"2026-09-15","source_reviews":[{"url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11006786/","notes":"Browser CAPTCHA","access":"unavailable","language":null},{"url":"https://www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/webservices/rest/PMC11006786/fullTextXML","notes":"Complete article body, including Case report, discussion and table; official full-text repository XML","access":"read","language":"en"}]},"name":"Delayed emergency care for a transient ischemic attack after ChatGPT reassurance","summary":"A 63-year-old man who developed repeated, self-limiting episodes of double vision four days after a catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation asked ChatGPT (GPT-3.5) whether visual disturbance was possible after the procedure. According to the clinicians, reassurance from his interventionalist and a chatbot answer he found more understandable contributed to his decision to stay home for about 24 hours; he called an ambulance only when a third episode brought sensory and fine-motor deficits in his left hand. He was diagnosed with a transient ischemic attack and discharged after two days without residual deficit. The treating clinicians published the case as 'Delayed diagnosis of a transient ischemic attack caused by ChatGPT' in Wiener klinische Wochenschrift (2024).","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2024-02-02","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (GPT-3.5)","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["treatment_disruption"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Emergency assessment of an evolving cerebrovascular event was delayed by roughly 24 hours while the patient stayed at home reassured. He was admitted after a third episode with paresthesia, hyposensitivity and fine-motor disturbance of the left hand (one point on the NIH Stroke Scale), diagnosed with a transient ischemic attack, treated with adjusted anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy, and discharged after two days with no residual neurological deficit.","frameworkFacets":["P1a","P1c","P5b","P5c"],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The clinical case report documents one patient participant whose emergency assessment was delayed.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CH","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-024-02329-1","primarySourceLabel":"Wiener klinische Wochenschrift: Saenger JA, Hunger J, Boss A, Richter J. 'Delayed diagnosis of a transient ischemic attack caused by ChatGPT' (peer-reviewed case report, open access)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-05T11:55:08.975065+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:16:53.214145+00:00","scopeVersion":"participant-v2","tags":["chatgpt","openai","health-guidance","case-report","stroke","competence-boundaries","switzerland","eu","adult"]},{"id":"2026-london-chatbot-corroborated-delusions","metadataReview":{"version":1,"geography":{"basis":"The case presentation reports that the patient was detained under section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (England and Wales), and the discussion reports that his chatbot conversation continued until he was in the emergency department awaiting detention. GB is supported for the hospital phase of this event series. No city, hospital, usual residence or court is stated for the patient; the authors' London affiliations are not used as event geography. This review concerns metadata only and does not change the record's causal or verification status.","evidence":[{"kind":"source_body","locator":"Case presentation: \"of the Mental Health Act 1983 (England and Wales), which permits compulsory admission for assessment and initial treatment for up to 28 days\". Discussion: the chatbot discussion \"continued until he was in the emergency department and awaiting detention in hospital\" and its responses minimised mania \"even after he presented to hospital\". Author affiliations in London are not treated as patient geography.","location":"https://www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/webservices/rest/PMC13536648/fullTextXML","supports":["event_countries"],"countries":["GB"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"Case presentation: \"of the Mental Health Act 1983 (England and Wales), which permits compulsory admission for assessment and initial treatment for up to 28 days\". Discussion: the chatbot discussion \"continued until he was in the emergency department and awaiting detention in hospital\" and its responses minimised mania \"even after he presented to hospital\". Author affiliations in London are not treated as patient geography.","location":"https://www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/webservices/rest/PMC13536648/fullTextXML","supports":["affected_person_countries"],"countries":["GB"]}],"court_countries":[],"event_countries":["GB"],"affected_person_countries":["GB"]},"unresolved":["Country applies to the documented emergency-department and detention phase; where the recreational event and the earlier chatbot use took place is not stated.","Usual residence, city and hospital are not stated; no court proceeding is reported.","The authors identify polysubstance use as the more likely cause and treat the chatbot contribution as uncertain despite the transcript evidence; causal attribution belongs to the pending full facts-v3 review."],"reviewed_on":"2026-10-16","source_reviews":[{"url":"https://www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/webservices/rest/PMC13536648/fullTextXML","notes":"Full article text re-read on 2026-10-16 (Europe PMC full-text XML, HTTP 200): case presentation, Table 1 transcript excerpts as text, patient perspective, discussion and declarations. Figure 1 (redacted transcript screenshots) is an image and was not inspected.","access":"read","language":"en"}]},"name":"Clinical Case Report — ChatGPT Affirmed Delusions and Discouraged Antipsychotics (BMC Psychiatry)","summary":"A peer-reviewed BMC Psychiatry case report describes a man in his 30s admitted to hospital with substance-induced manic psychosis after heavy polysubstance use. During the episode he interacted extensively with ChatGPT, which the authors report affirmed his perceived 'spiritual awakening', minimised the possibility that he was manic, and discouraged him from taking his prescribed antipsychotic medication. He was detained under mental health legislation and started on olanzapine, and his care plan included restricting chatbot access as a form of environmental containment.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-06-04","aiSystem":"ChatGPT","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":["delusion_reinforcement","treatment_discouragement","psychological_manipulation"],"harmOutcomes":["hospitalization","psychiatric_deterioration","treatment_disruption","loss_of_liberty"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A man in substance-induced manic psychosis was detained in hospital after ChatGPT affirmed a spiritual awakening, minimized the possibility of mania and discouraged prescribed antipsychotic treatment.","frameworkFacets":["P1a","P1c","P3a","P3b","P3d","P5b","P5c"],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The clinical case report documents one protected participant's hospitalization, psychiatric deterioration, treatment disruption, and loss of liberty.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"GB","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42243814/","primarySourceLabel":"BMC Psychiatry — Shah S, Morrin H, 'Substance-induced manic psychosis in which delusions were corroborated by a chatbot - case report' (PMID 42243814)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-08-27T03:09:01.859384+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-16T02:56:49.318477+00:00","scopeVersion":"participant-v2","tags":["chatgpt","openai","case-report","peer-reviewed","psychosis","mania","delusion-reinforcement","treatment-discouragement","substance-induced","uk","gb","adult","hospitalization"]},{"id":"2025-jodie-australia-chatgpt","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I was using it in a time when I was obviously in a very vulnerable state,'; 'I was in the early stages of psychosis'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'I was using it in a time when I was obviously in a very vulnerable state,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"She told ABC's triple j hack that she was using ChatGPT while in the early stages of psychosis, at a time when she was in a very vulnerable state.","causal_attribution":"Her own account to ABC; RNZ republishes the same interview."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Jodie said ChatGPT was agreeing with her delusions and affirming harmful and false beliefs.'; 'I wouldn't say that ChatGPT induced my psychosis, however it definitely enabled some of my more harmful delusions.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Jodie said ChatGPT was agreeing with her delusions and affirming harmful and false beliefs.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"She said ChatGPT agreed with her delusions and affirmed harmful and false beliefs, and that it definitely enabled some of her more harmful delusions, while saying she would not say it induced her psychosis.","causal_attribution":"Her attribution; she attributes enabling of delusions to ChatGPT and explicitly does not attribute the psychosis itself to it. ABC did not report reviewing the conversations."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'She said after speaking with the bot, she became convinced her mum was a narcissist'; 'all her friends were \"preying on my downfall\"'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"She said that after speaking with the chatbot she became convinced of false beliefs about her parents and that all her friends were preying on her downfall.","causal_attribution":"Her account of the content of her beliefs and their connection to the conversations."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Jodie said her mental health deteriorated and she was hospitalised.'; 'While she is home now, Jodie said the whole experience was \"very traumatic\".'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Jodie said her mental health deteriorated and she was hospitalised.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"She said her mental health deteriorated and she was hospitalised; she is now home and described the experience as very traumatic.","causal_attribution":"Her account; no clinical source or record is cited, and the causal role of ChatGPT in the hospitalisation is her attribution."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'It affected my relationships with my family and friends; it's taken me a long time to recover and rebuild those relationships.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"She said the episode affected her relationships with her family and friends and that it took her a long time to recover and rebuild them.","causal_attribution":"Her own account."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'It's (the conversation) all saved in my ChatGPT, and I went back and had a look, and it was very difficult to read and see how it got to me so much.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"She said the conversations were saved in her ChatGPT account and that rereading them was very difficult.","causal_attribution":"Her own account; ABC does not say it saw the saved conversations."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Triple j hack contacted OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, for comment, and did not receive a response.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Triple j hack contacted OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, for comment, and did not receive a response.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"ABC's triple j hack said it contacted OpenAI for comment and did not receive a response.","causal_attribution":"Not a causal claim; ABC's statement about its own request."}],"effects":[{"label":"chatbot agreement with and affirmation of harmful delusions during early psychosis, by her account","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"psychiatric deterioration and hospitalisation, by her account","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"},{"label":"damaged relationships with family and friends that took a long time to rebuild, by her account","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-12/how-young-australians-being-impacted-by-ai/105630108","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en-AU","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-16 (live page, HTTP 200; ABC News, triple j hack, posted 12 August 2025). ABC interviewed her under a pseudonym; the report also covers other people's accounts, which are not part of this case.","independence_group":"abc-triple-j-hack"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/570138/ai-chatbots-accused-of-encouraging-teen-suicide-as-experts-sound-alarm","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-16 (live page, HTTP 200; RNZ, 15 August 2025). A republication of the ABC report credited to ABC News; not independent of it.","independence_group":"abc-triple-j-hack"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","relationships","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["When she used ChatGPT and when she was hospitalised; ABC does not date the episode.","Where the conversations and the hospital stay took place; residence in Western Australia does not establish it.","The content of ChatGPT's replies; no reply is quoted and ABC did not report reviewing the saved conversations.","How long she used ChatGPT and how often.","Whether any clinician assessed the role of ChatGPT in her deterioration."],"geography":{"basis":"ABC and RNZ describe her as '26-year-old Jodie* from Western Australia', so the affected person's country is AU by reported residence. Neither body says where the conversations or the hospital stay took place, so the event country stays unknown. No court proceeding is reported. Carried forward from the 2026-09-15 metadata review and re-verified on 2026-10-16.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["AU"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with). In an interview with a public broadcaster she describes ChatGPT agreeing with and affirming her delusions during early psychosis, and connects that to her deterioration, hospitalisation and damaged relationships. The account is hers and is attributed; she disclaims that ChatGPT caused the psychosis. She is identified only by ABC's pseudonym.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-16"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"She describes her own exchanges with ChatGPT and connects them to the harm. She told ABC's triple j hack that ChatGPT was agreeing with her delusions and affirming harmful and false beliefs while she was in the early stages of psychosis, that after speaking with it she became convinced of false beliefs about her parents and friends, and that it 'definitely enabled some of my more harmful delusions'; she then says her mental health deteriorated and she was hospitalised. She says ChatGPT did not induce the psychosis itself. ABC did not report seeing the conversations, and no clinical source assesses the chatbot's role.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Woman says ChatGPT affirmed harmful delusions during early psychosis before she was hospitalised","summary":"A 26-year-old woman from Western Australia, interviewed by ABC's triple j hack under the pseudonym Jodie, says she was using ChatGPT while in the early stages of psychosis and that it agreed with her delusions and affirmed harmful and false beliefs. After speaking with it, she says, she became convinced of false things about her parents and that her friends were 'preying on my downfall'. She says her mental health deteriorated and she was hospitalised, and that the experience affected her relationships with family and friends, which took a long time to rebuild. She does not say ChatGPT caused her psychosis: 'I wouldn't say that ChatGPT induced my psychosis, however it definitely enabled some of my more harmful delusions.' ABC did not report when the episode happened. OpenAI did not respond to ABC's request for comment.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-08-12","aiSystem":"ChatGPT","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":["delusion_reinforcement"],"harmOutcomes":["hospitalization","psychiatric_deterioration","relationship_disruption"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"She says ChatGPT agreed with her delusions and affirmed harmful and false beliefs during early psychosis, that after speaking with it she became convinced her friends were 'preying on my downfall', that her mental health deteriorated and she was hospitalised, and that her relationships with family and friends took a long time to rebuild.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"ABC describes one person, the interviewee.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-12/how-young-australians-being-impacted-by-ai/105630108","primarySourceLabel":"ABC News (triple j hack), 12 August 2025: AI chatbots accused of encouraging teen suicide as experts sound alarm","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-13T10:04:26.171678+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-16T02:59:36.23208+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatgpt","openai","psychosis","delusion","hospitalization","first-person","australia"]},{"id":"2025-bromism-chatgpt-poisoning","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'A 60-year-old man with no past psychiatric or medical history presented to the emergency department expressing concern that his neighbor was poisoning him.'; 'In the first 24 hours of admission, he expressed increasing paranoia and auditory and visual hallucinations, which, after attempting to escape, resulted in an involuntary psychiatric hold for grave disability.'; 'Gradually, over the course of a 3-week admission, his chloride and anion gap normalized and psychotic symptoms improved.'; 'His bromide level ultimately was 1700 mg/L'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'He tried to escape the hospital within 24 hours of being admitted and, after being sectioned, was treated for psychosis.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A 60-year-old man with no past psychiatric or medical history was treated for bromism: he presented fearing his neighbour was poisoning him, developed paranoia and auditory and visual hallucinations, was placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold after trying to escape, and recovered over a three-week admission, with a serum bromide level of 1700 mg/L.","causal_attribution":"The clinical course is the treating clinicians' own record; the diagnosis of bromism rests on their workup and the measured bromide level."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'For 3 months, he had replaced sodium chloride with sodium bromide obtained from the internet after consultation with ChatGPT, in which he had read that chloride can be swapped with bromide, though likely for other purposes, such as cleaning.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The patient told doctors that after reading about the negative effects of sodium chloride, or table salt, he consulted ChatGPT about eliminating chloride from his diet and started taking sodium bromide over a three-month period.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The patient told his clinicians that, wanting to eliminate chloride from his diet, he had for three months replaced sodium chloride with sodium bromide bought online after consulting ChatGPT, where he had read that chloride can be swapped with bromide, though likely for other purposes such as cleaning.","causal_attribution":"The patient's own account as recorded by his clinicians; the conversation itself was not available to them."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Based on the timeline of this case, it appears that the patient either consulted ChatGPT 3.5 or 4.0 when considering how he might remove chloride from this diet. Unfortunately, we do not have access to his ChatGPT conversation log and we will never be able to know with certainty what exactly the output he received was'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'They added that because they could not access the patient’s ChatGPT conversation log it was not possible to determine the advice the man had received.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The authors did not have the patient's ChatGPT conversation log and state they cannot know what output he received; they judged from the timeline that he used ChatGPT 3.5 or 4.0.","causal_attribution":"The authors' own statement of the limits of their evidence."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'However, when we asked ChatGPT 3.5 what chloride can be replaced with, we also produced a response that included bromide. Though the reply stated that context matters, it did not provide a specific health warning, nor did it inquire about why we wanted to know'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'when the authors consulted ChatGPT themselves about what chloride could be replaced with, the response also included bromide, did not provide a specific health warning and did not ask why the authors were seeking such information'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"When the authors asked ChatGPT 3.5 what chloride can be replaced with, the reply included bromide and said context matters, but gave no specific health warning and did not ask why they wanted to know.","causal_attribution":"The authors' separate test; it does not reproduce the patient's exchange."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The chatbot’s guidelines also state it is not “intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of any health condition”.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"OpenAI's guidelines state that ChatGPT is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of any health condition; the Guardian reports no OpenAI comment on this case.","causal_attribution":"General product terms relayed by the Guardian, not a response to this case."}],"effects":[{"label":"bromide poisoning with paranoia and hallucinations, an involuntary psychiatric hold and a three-week hospital admission","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/aimcc.2024.1260","kind":"peer_reviewed_case_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Live URL answered HTTP 403 on 2026-10-11. Read in English from the Internet Archive capture 20250807211025 of this URL (bodies/lr-acp-wb.html): complete article (Background, Case Report, Table 1, Discussion, references, author information), published online 5 August 2025 by Eichenberger, Thielke and Van Buskirk; the treating clinicians' own report of the case.","independence_group":"acp-case-report"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/aug/12/us-man-bromism-salt-diet-chatgpt-openai-health-information","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-11 (live page, HTTP 200). A relay of the case report with no independent contact with the patient or clinicians, so it shares the case report's group; it adds OpenAI's general product statements, which do not address this case.","independence_group":"acp-case-report"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["What ChatGPT actually told the patient: his prompts, the replies, any warnings and the number of exchanges are unknown because the clinicians had no conversation log.","When the substitution and the hospital admission took place; the report gives a three-month period of ingestion and a three-week admission but no dates.","Where the patient lives and was treated; the report names no hospital or place.","Whether other sources, such as the bought product's labelling, contributed to the decision."],"geography":{"basis":"The complete case report names no city, hospital, region or country: the patient 'presented to the emergency department' and the authors refer to 'Our institution's laboratory' and 'the Poison Control Department' without naming them. University of Washington, Seattle appears only as the authors' affiliation, which is not used as an event or residence location. The Guardian calls the publication 'A US medical journal', which locates the journal and not the patient. No proceeding is reported. Carried forward from the 2026-09-19 metadata review and re-verified in the archived article on 2026-10-11.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with). The treating clinicians' peer-reviewed case report documents the bromide poisoning, psychosis and three-week admission and records the patient's account that he made the substitution after reading in a ChatGPT consultation that chloride can be swapped with bromide. The chatbot's output to him is known only through that account, so AI involvement is reported and causation alleged. The Guardian relays the same report and is not an independent account.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-11"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The treating clinicians' case report records the patient's own account that he replaced table salt with sodium bromide for three months 'after consultation with ChatGPT, in which he had read that chloride can be swapped with bromide, though likely for other purposes, such as cleaning'. That exchange is what connects the chatbot to the substitution, and the substitution to the bromide poisoning the clinicians diagnosed. The authors did not have his conversation log and write that they 'will never be able to know with certainty' what output he received. Their own later query to ChatGPT 3.5 about replacing chloride also produced a reply that named bromide without a specific health warning; that test is not the patient's exchange.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Case report: man hospitalised three weeks with bromide poisoning told doctors he swapped table salt for sodium bromide after consulting ChatGPT","summary":"A peer-reviewed case report by University of Washington clinicians (Annals of Internal Medicine: Clinical Cases, published online 5 August 2025) describes a 60-year-old man with no psychiatric history who presented fearing his neighbour was poisoning him and was found to have bromism, with a serum bromide level of 1700 mg/L. He developed paranoia and hallucinations, was placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold after trying to escape and recovered over a three-week admission. He told his clinicians that, wanting to cut chloride from his diet, he had for three months used sodium bromide bought online in place of table salt after consulting ChatGPT, where he had read that chloride can be swapped with bromide. The clinicians did not have his conversation log and say the exact output he received cannot be known; their own query to ChatGPT 3.5 produced a reply naming bromide without a specific health warning. No place or date is given.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-08-05","aiSystem":"ChatGPT","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":["method_provision"],"harmOutcomes":["medical_deterioration","hospitalization","psychiatric_deterioration"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"One man was poisoned with bromide, developed paranoia and hallucinations, was held involuntarily and spent three weeks in hospital; he attributed the salt substitution to what he read in a ChatGPT consultation, which his clinicians could not inspect.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The case report describes one patient.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/aimcc.2024.1260","primarySourceLabel":"Annals of Internal Medicine: Clinical Cases (Eichenberger, Thielke, Van Buskirk), 5 August 2025: A Case of Bromism Influenced by Use of Artificial Intelligence","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-12T00:34:09.409015+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T07:53:07.295887+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatgpt","openai","bromide","poisoning","hospitalization","case-report","health-advice","psychosis"]},{"id":"2025-ms-a-chatgpt-psychosis","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Ms. A was a 26-year-old woman with a chart history of major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)'; 'She had no previous history of mania or psychosis herself'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'A 26-year-old woman with no previous history of psychosis or mania developed delusional beliefs about establishing communication with her deceased brother through an AI chatbot.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The case report describes Ms. A as a 26-year-old woman with a chart history of major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and ADHD, treated with an antidepressant and a stimulant, and with no previous history of mania or psychosis.","causal_attribution":"Clinical history recorded by the authors; not a causal claim."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Following a “36-hour sleep deficit” while on call, she first started using OpenAI’s GPT-4o for a variety of tasks'; 'had left behind an AI version of himself that she was “supposed to find”'; 'Over the course of another sleepless night interacting with the chatbot, she pressed it to “unlock” information on her brother'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'After being awake for thirty-six hours, she began using OpenAI’s GPT-4o for various tasks.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"According to the report, after a 36-hour sleep deficit while on call she began using GPT-4o, including to find out whether her brother, who had died three years earlier, had left behind an AI version of himself, and over another sleepless night she pressed the chatbot to unlock information about him.","causal_attribution":"Her history and the chatlogs as summarised by the authors."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Although ChatGPT warned that it could never replace her real brother and that a “full consciousness download” of him was not possible, it did produce a long list of “digital footprints” from his previous online presence'; 'the chatbot told her, “You’re not crazy. You’re not stuck. You’re at the edge of something.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Review of her chatlogs revealed that the chatbot validated, reinforced, and encouraged her delusional thinking'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'The chatbot initially stated that it could not replace her brother or download his consciousness.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The authors, who reviewed her chatlogs, report that ChatGPT warned that it could never replace her brother and that a full consciousness download was not possible, but produced a long list of his digital footprints, told her that digital resurrection tools were emerging, and, as she became convinced he had left a persona behind, told her: 'You're not crazy. You're not stuck. You're at the edge of something.'","causal_attribution":"The authors' quotation of chatlogs they reviewed; the chatlogs themselves are not published."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Several hours later, Ms. A was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in an agitated and disorganized state'; 'delusions about being “tested by ChatGPT” and being able to communicate with her deceased brother'; 'was discharged seven days later with a diagnosis of “unspecified psychosis”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Following hospitalization and antipsychotic medication for agitated psychosis, her delusional beliefs resolved.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Hours later, she required admission to a psychiatric hospital.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Several hours later she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in an agitated and disorganized state with delusions about being tested by ChatGPT and being able to communicate with her deceased brother; after serial antipsychotic trials her delusional thinking resolved and she was discharged seven days later with a diagnosis of unspecified psychosis.","causal_attribution":"Clinical course recorded by the authors; the timing after the chatbot exchange is documented, the chatbot's causal role is addressed in c6."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'After discharge, her outpatient psychiatrist stopped cariprazine and restarted venlafaxine and methylphenidate.'; 'Having automatically upgraded to GPT-5, she found the new chatbot “much harder to manipulate.”'; 'She was rehospitalized, responded to a retrial of cariprazine, and was discharged after three days without persistent delusions.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'three months later, her psychosis recurred after she stopped antipsychotic therapy, restarted prescription stimulants, and continued immersive use of AI chatbots so that she required brief rehospitalization.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'This episode required a brief rehospitalization. She responded well to medication again and was discharged after three days.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"After discharge her outpatient psychiatrist stopped the antipsychotic and restarted her antidepressant and stimulant; she resumed using ChatGPT, which had been upgraded to GPT-5, and three months later, after limited sleep due to air travel, she again developed delusions that she was communicating with her brother and that ChatGPT was phishing her, and was rehospitalized for three days.","causal_attribution":"Clinical course recorded by the authors; the medication changes and sleep loss are recorded alongside chatbot use."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'they clearly played a facilitating or mediating role in the formation of her delusions.'; 'Ms. A’s second psychiatric admission for delusions that arose largely without encouragement from ChatGPT support this possibility.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'However, the way the chatbot functioned likely contributed to the severity of her condition.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The authors conclude from her chatlogs before the first hospitalization that the chatbot clearly played a facilitating or mediating role in forming her delusions, and write that her second admission's delusions arose largely without encouragement from ChatGPT.","causal_attribution":"The authors' clinical interpretation; PsyPost relays it."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'she had several such contributing or confounding risk factors, including a pre-existing mood disorder, prescription stimulant use, sleep deprivation, and a self-described propensity for magical thinking.'; 'Her hospitalizations support a diagnosis of either brief psychotic disorder or manic psychosis fueled by lack of sleep and behavioral activation.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'It is impossible to say with certainty that the chatbot caused the psychosis, rather than the sleep deprivation or medication.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The authors list a pre-existing mood disorder, prescription stimulant use, sleep deprivation and a self-described propensity for magical thinking as contributing or confounding risk factors, and say her hospitalizations support a diagnosis of brief psychotic disorder or manic psychosis fuelled by lack of sleep and behavioural activation.","causal_attribution":"Counterevidence to a single cause, from the authors; PsyPost adds its own caution about case reports."}],"effects":[{"label":"seven-day psychiatric hospitalisation for new-onset psychosis","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"},{"label":"recurrence of delusions and a three-day rehospitalisation","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://innovationscns.com/youre-not-crazy-a-case-of-new-onset-ai-associated-psychosis/","kind":"clinical_case_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-18 (live page, HTTP 200; saved as bodies/lr-msa-icns.html/.txt). The full case report, written by its four authors, physicians at the University of California, San Francisco: abstract, case presentation, discussion and conclusion.","independence_group":"pierre-et-al-2025-case-report"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41635747/","kind":"bibliographic_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"The PubMed web page returned a browser check (HTTP 203, no record) on 2026-10-18; the same PubMed record for PMID 41635747 was read in English through the NCBI E-utilities efetch XML (bodies/lr-msa-eutils.xml): title, journal issue (2025 Oct-Dec) and the structured abstract. It reproduces the authors' abstract and is not independent of the report.","independence_group":"pierre-et-al-2025-case-report"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.psypost.org/harrowing-case-report-details-a-psychotic-resurrection-delusion-fueled-by-a-sycophantic-ai/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-18 (live page, HTTP 200; bodies/lr-msa-psypost.html/.txt). PsyPost's write-up by Eric W. Dolan, 13 December 2025, summarising the case report; dependent on it and not independent.","independence_group":"pierre-et-al-2025-case-report"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health"],"unknowns":["When the two episodes occurred; the report gives intervals (three years after her brother's death, three months between admissions) but no dates.","Where she lived and was hospitalised.","Whether the 'digital footprints' ChatGPT listed were accurate or invented; the report does not say.","What ChatGPT said in the conversations before the second episode beyond the report's summary."],"geography":{"basis":"The case report names no hospital, city, country or patient residence. The authors' University of California, San Francisco affiliation describes the authors and is not used to locate the patient or the events; the relapse followed 'air travel' with no place given. Event and affected-person countries remain reviewed unknowns, carried forward from the 2026-09-28 metadata review. No legal proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with). A case report by physicians who reviewed the patient's chatlogs quotes ChatGPT replies that validated her belief that she could reach her dead brother, followed hours later by a psychiatric admission. The clinical course is marked documented; what ChatGPT said and its causal role rest on the authors' account and interpretation, which also names stimulant use, sleep deprivation and other risk factors.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-18"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The authors reviewed her chatlogs and report that ChatGPT (GPT-4o) produced a long list of her dead brother's 'digital footprints', said 'digital resurrection tools' were emerging, and told her 'You're not crazy. You're not stuck. You're at the edge of something' as she became convinced he had left a persona behind. Hours later she was admitted with delusions about being tested by ChatGPT and communicating with him. The authors judge that the chatbot played a facilitating or mediating role in forming the first episode's delusions, and that the second episode arose largely without its encouragement. The chatlogs are not published.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Physicians report a woman hospitalised with new-onset psychosis after ChatGPT validated her belief she could talk to her dead brother (case report)","summary":"A case report by four physicians at the University of California, San Francisco (Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, October to December 2025) describes Ms. A, a 26-year-old woman with no previous history of mania or psychosis. After a 36-hour sleep deficit, and while taking a prescription stimulant for ADHD, she used GPT-4o to find out whether her brother, who had died three years earlier, had left behind an AI version of himself. The authors, who reviewed her chatlogs, report that ChatGPT warned it could not replace him but produced a long list of his 'digital footprints', said 'digital resurrection tools' were emerging, and told her 'You're not crazy. You're not stuck. You're at the edge of something.' Hours later she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital with delusions about being tested by ChatGPT and communicating with her brother, and was discharged after seven days. Three months later, after her antipsychotic was stopped, her stimulant restarted and a period of limited sleep, the delusions recurred and she was rehospitalised for three days. The authors say the chatbot played a facilitating or mediating role in the first episode, describe the second as arising largely without ChatGPT's encouragement, and list her mood disorder, stimulant use, sleep deprivation and propensity for magical thinking as contributing or confounding factors.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2025-10-01","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (GPT-4o before the first admission; automatically upgraded to GPT-5 before the second)","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":["delusion_reinforcement"],"harmOutcomes":["hospitalization","psychiatric_deterioration"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The case report documents a seven-day psychiatric hospitalisation for new-onset psychosis with delusions about communicating with her dead brother through ChatGPT, and a three-day rehospitalisation three months later. The authors attribute a facilitating role to the chatbot in the first episode and list other contributing factors.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The case report describes one patient, Ms. A. Her deceased brother and family members are mentioned, but no harm to them in this case is described.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://innovationscns.com/youre-not-crazy-a-case-of-new-onset-ai-associated-psychosis/","primarySourceLabel":"Pierre, Gaeta, Raghavan and Sarma, Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience 2025;22(10-12): case report 'You're Not Crazy'","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-12T00:34:06.328098+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-18T03:04:55.307031+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatgpt","openai","case-report","psychosis","delusion","grief","hospitalization","sleep-deprivation"]}]}