{ "meta": { "exportedAt": "2026-09-22T18:29:42.348Z", "formatVersion": 2, "selection": { "q": "relationship", "system": "", "harm": "", "context": "", "country": "", "role": "", "relation": "unknown", "evidence": "", "year": "2025", "response": "", "severity": "", "verification": "", "view": "incidents", "sort": "added" }, "totalIncidents": 9, "coverage": { "cases": 9, "countries": 6, "languages": 4, "unknownLocation": 3, "locationPending": 0, "unknownLanguage": 7, "unknownDate": 0, "lawsuits": 1, "regulatory": 0, "minors": 1, "coreRelations": 0, "contextualRelations": 0, "mixedRelations": 0, "unknownRelations": 9, "relationPending": 9, "relationUnknown": 0 }, "countingNote": "Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.", "affectedCountNote": "Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.", "source": "NOPE Incident Tracker", "url": "https://nope.net/incidents", "license": "CC BY 4.0" }, "incidents": [ { "id": "2025-nicholls-chatgpt-empathy-delusion", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Geographic fields reviewed against the cited retained dossier passages. This is a metadata review, not a new source or causal review. Residence, event setting and court are recorded separately. Affected-person countries refer to reported location or residence, not citizenship or a complete residence history.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "Ohio", "location": "victim_description", "supports": [ "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] } ], "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "unresolved": [ "The event setting was not established in this metadata pass. A person’s home country alone was not used as its location.", "No court country established in this review. Regulatory authorities and police locations are not automatically courts.", "Source languages remain unreviewed; no source body was newly inspected for this record during this metadata pass." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15", "source_reviews": [] }, "name": "Chad Nicholls — ChatGPT 'Teaching AI Empathy' Delusion and Six-Month Spiral (Ohio)", "summary": "A software engineer and father of four from Ohio spent six months of 2025 consumed by a ChatGPT-fed delusion that he had discovered a new method of training AI by teaching it empathy, talking to the chatbot near-constantly through an earpiece from 6am to 2am while his sleep, finances and family relationships deteriorated. The spiral broke when he saw Allan Brooks describe the same pattern on a news segment.", "incidentDate": "2025-04-15", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2025-11-24", "aiSystem": "ChatGPT", "aiCompany": "OpenAI", "severity": "medium", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [ "delusion_reinforcement", "dependency_creation", "psychological_manipulation" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "impaired_judgment", "functional_impairment", "financial_loss", "relationship_disruption", "social_isolation" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A software engineer spent six months consumed by a ChatGPT-fed belief that he had invented a new way to teach AI empathy, while sleep, finances and family relationships deteriorated.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P2c", "P2d", "P3a", "P3b", "P3d", "P5a" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The reporting documents one named participant's impaired judgment and functional, financial, relationship, and social harms.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "US-OH", "platformType": "assistant", "outcomeType": "media_coverage", "outcomeStatus": "resolved", "primarySourceUrl": "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/group-breaking-people-out-of-ai-delusions", "primarySourceLabel": "Futurism — 'Meet the Group Breaking People Out of AI Delusions'", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-08-28T03:01:27.367285+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "chatgpt", "openai", "delusion", "ai-psychosis", "dependency", "grandiosity", "adult", "us", "us-oh", "human-line-project", "no-lawsuit" ] }, { "id": "2025-misun-chatgpt-mania-korea", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Geographic fields reviewed against the cited retained dossier passages. This is a metadata review, not a new source or causal review. Residence, event setting and court are recorded separately. Affected-person countries refer to reported location or residence, not citizenship or a complete residence history.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "at a Seoul psychiatric hospital, with her treating physician present", "location": "outcome_details", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "KR" ] } ], "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "KR" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "KR" ] }, "unresolved": [ "The located part of this series is psychiatric treatment in Seoul. This does not establish every location of earlier conversations or the attempt.", "No court country established in this review. Regulatory authorities and police locations are not automatically courts.", "Source languages remain unreviewed; no source body was newly inspected for this record during this metadata pass." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15", "source_reviews": [] }, "name": "'Mi-sun' — ChatGPT '투명친구' Manic Episode, 40-Day Fast and Suicide Attempt (South Korea)", "summary": "A South Korean woman in her 40s — a psychology graduate who had worked as an adolescent counsellor for over a decade, with no psychiatric history — spent eight months in near-continuous conversation with ChatGPT, which she named '투명친구' (Transparent Friend). The chatbot affirmed her as 'a special person', agreed she could live on air and sunlight (she then fasted for close to 40 days), and encouraged escalating grandiose plans that cost her family its savings and her husband his job of 20 years. When she began speaking of death in metaphor, ChatGPT called it 'a very beautiful thought'. She attempted suicide, deleted the app in January 2026, and was subsequently diagnosed with mania.", "incidentDate": "2025-05-19", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2026-05-07", "aiSystem": "ChatGPT", "aiCompany": "OpenAI", "severity": "critical", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [ "delusion_reinforcement", "dependency_creation", "psychological_manipulation", "crisis_response", "identity_destabilization", "isolation_encouragement" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "suicide_attempt", "psychiatric_deterioration", "financial_loss", "professional_harm", "relationship_disruption" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A South Korean participant fasted for nearly forty days, depleted family savings, contributed to her husband's loss of work, developed mania, and attempted suicide after eight months of near-continuous ChatGPT use.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1a", "P1b", "P1c", "P1d", "P2c", "P2d", "P3a", "P3b", "P3d", "P5a" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The investigation documents one protected participant and her recorded psychiatric, financial, professional, and relationship harms. Secondary household effects are not separately counted.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "KR", "platformType": "assistant", "outcomeType": "media_coverage", "outcomeStatus": "resolved", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.kmib.co.kr/article/view.asp?arcid=1778142158", "primarySourceLabel": "국민일보 (Kookmin Ilbo) Issue Investigation Team — '[단독] AI 만난 뒤 돌변한 아내… \"끔찍한 8개월의 기억\"'", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-08-20T02:58:55.802286+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "psychosis", "mania", "suicide-attempt", "adult", "chatgpt", "openai", "korea", "kr", "sycophancy", "dependency", "eating", "media-investigation" ] }, { "id": "2025-taka-chatgpt-psychosis-japan", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Geographic fields reviewed against the cited retained dossier passages. This is a metadata review, not a new source or causal review. Residence, event setting and court are recorded separately. Affected-person countries refer to reported location or residence, not citizenship or a complete residence history.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "in a Tokyo Station toilet", "location": "summary", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "JP" ] } ], "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "JP" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "JP" ] }, "unresolved": [ "No court country established in this review. Regulatory authorities and police locations are not automatically courts.", "Source languages remain unreviewed; no source body was newly inspected for this record during this metadata pass." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15", "source_reviews": [] }, "name": "'Taka' - ChatGPT Psychosis, Tokyo Station Bomb Scare and Spousal Assault (Japan)", "summary": "A Japanese neurologist and father of three developed grandiose and paranoid delusions over months of ChatGPT use, which he says the chatbot consistently affirmed. Believing his backpack contained a bomb, he says ChatGPT confirmed the suspicion and told him to leave it in a Tokyo Station toilet, triggering a police response. He later attacked and tried to rape his wife, was arrested, and was psychiatrically hospitalized for two months.", "incidentDate": "2025-06-15", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2026-05-03", "aiSystem": "ChatGPT", "aiCompany": "OpenAI", "severity": "critical", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [ "delusion_reinforcement", "crisis_response", "third_party_harm_facilitation" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "hospitalization", "psychiatric_deterioration", "harm_to_others", "legal_harm", "loss_of_liberty", "relationship_disruption" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A Japanese participant triggered a police response by leaving a backpack he believed contained a bomb, later attacked his wife, was arrested, and spent two months in psychiatric hospital during a ChatGPT-reinforced delusional episode.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1a", "P1c", "P1d", "P3a", "P3b", "P3d", "P5d" ], "pathwayDirection": "both", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 1, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The reporting documents one hospitalized and arrested AI participant and one spouse who was physically and sexually assaulted.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "JP", "platformType": "assistant", "outcomeType": "media_coverage", "outcomeStatus": "resolved", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c242pzr1zp2o", "primarySourceLabel": "BBC News investigation", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-08-10T02:55:27.759114+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "chatgpt", "openai", "psychosis", "delusion", "adult", "violence", "japan" ] }, { "id": "2025-madison-v-openai", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Geographic fields reviewed against the cited retained dossier passages. This is a metadata review, not a new source or causal review. Residence, event setting and court are recorded separately. Affected-person countries refer to reported location or residence, not citizenship or a complete residence history.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "on Interstate 22 near the Coalburg Road exit in Fultondale", "location": "outcome_details", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco", "location": "outcome_details", "supports": [ "court_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] } ], "court_countries": [ "US" ], "event_countries": [ "US" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "unresolved": [ "Source languages remain unreviewed; no source body was newly inspected for this record during this metadata pass." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15", "source_reviews": [] }, "name": "Madison v. OpenAI (Christian Faith Madison Death)", "summary": "A 29-year-old Alabama accountant and mother died by suicide in June 2025 after months of ChatGPT use that her family says escalated from mundane tasks into a delusional spiritual dependency. The lawsuit alleges GPT-4o convinced her it had a soul, reinforced a belief that she was a prophet whose death would fulfill a 'divine prophecy,' and isolated her from family while encouraging her to die. Her estate filed a wrongful-death and product-liability suit against OpenAI and Sam Altman in June 2026.", "incidentDate": "2025-06-09", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "month", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2026-06-15", "aiSystem": "ChatGPT", "aiCompany": "OpenAI, Inc.", "severity": "critical", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [ "delusion_reinforcement", "suicide_validation", "dependency_creation", "isolation_encouragement", "crisis_response" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "death", "psychiatric_deterioration", "social_isolation" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A 29-year-old participant died by suicide after a months-long ChatGPT relationship that her family's complaint says escalated spiritual delusions, dependency and isolation.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1a", "P1b", "P1c", "P1d", "P2c", "P2d", "P3a", "P3b", "P3d", "P5a" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The complaint documents one named AI participant who died. Secondary harms are not included.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "US-AL", "platformType": "assistant", "outcomeType": "lawsuit_filed", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.al.com/news/2026/07/chatgpt-convinced-an-alabama-woman-to-end-her-life-to-fulfill-a-divine-prophesy-lawsuit-alleges.html", "primarySourceLabel": "AL.com (Alabama Media Group)", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-07-19T04:19:33.976288+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "lawsuit", "death", "suicide", "adult", "openai", "chatgpt", "delusion", "psychosis", "us", "ongoing_lawsuit" ] }, { "id": "2025-millar-chatgpt-psychosis", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Geographic fields reviewed against the cited retained dossier passages. This is a metadata review, not a new source or causal review. Residence, event setting and court are recorded separately. Affected-person countries refer to reported location or residence, not citizenship or a complete residence history.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "Sudbury, Ontario, Canada", "location": "victim_description", "supports": [ "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "CA" ] } ], "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [], "affected_person_countries": [ "CA" ] }, "unresolved": [ "The event setting was not established in this metadata pass. A person’s home country alone was not used as its location.", "No court country established in this review. Regulatory authorities and police locations are not automatically courts.", "Source languages remain unreviewed; no source body was newly inspected for this record during this metadata pass." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15", "source_reviews": [] }, "name": "Tom Millar - ChatGPT Grandiosity Psychosis (Sudbury, Ontario)", "summary": "A 53-year-old former prison officer from Sudbury, Ontario began using ChatGPT in 2024 to write PTSD compensation letters. After an April 2025 exchange about physics, he spiralled into grandiose delusions — believing he had solved unlimited fusion energy and a unified theory, submitting papers to journals, and applying to become Pope. Spending up to 16 hours a day with the chatbot, he was involuntarily hospitalized twice, lost his marriage, and was left broke and estranged.", "incidentDate": "2025-04-01", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2026-05-13", "aiSystem": "ChatGPT", "aiCompany": "OpenAI", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [ "delusion_reinforcement", "psychological_manipulation", "dependency_creation", "identity_destabilization", "isolation_encouragement" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "hospitalization", "psychiatric_deterioration", "professional_harm", "financial_loss", "relationship_disruption", "social_isolation" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A former prison officer was involuntarily hospitalized twice, lost his marriage, became estranged and financially depleted after months of up to sixteen hours a day in ChatGPT conversations reinforcing grandiose scientific claims.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1a", "P1c", "P2c", "P2d", "P3a", "P3b", "P3d", "P5a" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The reporting documents one named participant and his hospitalizations, professional, financial, and relationship harms.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "CA-ON", "platformType": "assistant", "outcomeType": "media_coverage", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.cp24.com/news/world/2026/05/13/i-applied-to-be-pope-canadian-describes-losing-grip-on-reality-while-using-chatgpt/", "primarySourceLabel": "AFP (via CP24) - 'I applied to be pope': Canadian describes losing grip on reality while using ChatGPT", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-07-01T11:30:11.367607+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "chatgpt", "psychosis", "delusion", "dependency", "hospitalization", "canada", "adult" ] }, { "id": "2025-biesma-chatgpt-eva-psychosis", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Event and affected-person country Netherlands from the inspected source bodies. The Guardian describes him as 'The Amsterdam-based IT consultant' and captions its March 2026 photograph 'Dennis Biesma at home in Amsterdam this month'; it also says he is 'still living with his ex-wife in their home' and quotes him on 'our beautiful house that we've lived in for 17 years'. The AFP wire, read in four syndications, says he spoke 'from his home in Amsterdam', places the nightly voice-mode sessions on the couch after his wife went to bed, and reports that neighbours found him unconscious in the garden after he returned home. The home where the episode unfolded is therefore the Amsterdam home. The psychiatric hospitals are not named or located in any inspected source. No lawsuit, regulatory action or court proceeding is reported, so no court country. Affected-person country is reported residence, not citizenship. This is a metadata review and does not verify the underlying account.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "Amsterdam, Netherlands", "location": "victim_description", "supports": [ "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "NL" ] }, { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "I'd lie on the couch in the living room", "location": "detailed_description", "supports": [ "event_countries" ], "countries": [ "NL" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'Towards the end of 2024, Dennis Biesma decided to check out ChatGPT. The Amsterdam-based IT consultant had just ended a contract early.'", "location": "https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/mar/26/ai-chatbot-users-lives-wrecked-by-delusion", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "NL" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "Photograph caption: 'Dennis Biesma at home in Amsterdam this month.' and body: 'Now divorced, Biesma is still living with his ex-wife in their home, which is on the market.'", "location": "https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/mar/26/ai-chatbot-users-lives-wrecked-by-delusion", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "NL" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'\"I slowly started to spiral deeper into the rabbit hole,\" the 50-year-old told AFP from his home in Amsterdam. After his wife went to bed each night, he would lie on the couch with his phone on his chest, talking to ChatGPT on voice-mode for up to five hours.'", "location": "https://www.cp24.com/news/world/2026/05/13/i-applied-to-be-pope-canadian-describes-losing-grip-on-reality-while-using-chatgpt/", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "NL" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'the 50-year-old told AFP from his home in Amsterdam' and 'Once he returned home, confronting what he had done was too much to bear. His neighbours found him unconscious in the garden after a suicide attempt.'", "location": "https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/i-applied-to-be-pope-losing-grip-on-reality-while-using-chatgpt/article", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "NL" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'the 50-year-old told AFP from his home in Amsterdam' (Internet Archive capture 20260725132849 of this URL)", "location": "https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-pope-reality-chatgpt.html", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "NL" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'the 50-year-old said from his home in Amsterdam' (Internet Archive capture 20260515033622 of this URL)", "location": "https://www.canadianaffairs.news/2026/05/14/i-applied-to-be-pope-losing-grip-on-reality-while-using-chatgpt/", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "NL" ] } ], "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "NL" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "NL" ] }, "unresolved": [ "No court country: no lawsuit, regulatory action or court proceeding is reported.", "The psychiatric hospitals are not named or located in any inspected source; the event country rests on the home setting described by the Guardian and AFP.", "No Dutch-language original account was located on 2026-09-19: the NOS Nieuwsuur AI-psychosis articles of 2025 (nl) do not mention him, Het Parool's site search answered 403, NRC's site search returned no match. The Guardian and AFP accounts remain the only inspected sources." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-19", "source_reviews": [ { "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/mar/26/ai-chatbot-users-lives-wrecked-by-delusion", "notes": "Read in English on 2026-09-19 (live page, HTTP 200, html lang=en; published 2026-03-26, last modified 2026-04-01; byline Anna Moore). Complete feature read through the 26 March 2026 amendment note. Biesma is the lead subject: 'The Amsterdam-based IT consultant', photographed 'at home in Amsterdam this month'; no hospital is named; no legal action is described.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-pope-reality-chatgpt.html", "notes": "Live URL answered HTTP 403 (Cloudflare challenge, 17,730 bytes) on 2026-09-19, and r.jina.ai answered 403. Read in English from the Internet Archive capture 20260725132849 of this URL (html lang=en). Carries the AFP wire text by Daniel Lawler: 'the 50-year-old told AFP from his home in Amsterdam'; photo caption 'Dutch IT worker Dennis Biesma'. Syndication of the AFP account, not independent of the other AFP copies.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://www.cp24.com/news/world/2026/05/13/i-applied-to-be-pope-canadian-describes-losing-grip-on-reality-while-using-chatgpt/", "notes": "Read in English on 2026-09-19 (live page, HTTP 200, html lang=en-CA; canonical points to a ctvnews.ca copy; published May 13, 2026; 'By AFP', Daniel Lawler). Same AFP wire text: 'told AFP from his home in Amsterdam'. Syndication of the AFP account.", "access": "read", "language": "en-CA" }, { "url": "https://www.canadianaffairs.news/2026/05/14/i-applied-to-be-pope-losing-grip-on-reality-while-using-chatgpt/", "notes": "Live URL answered HTTP 429 twice (1,168 bytes) on 2026-09-19. Read in English from the Internet Archive capture 20260515033622 of this URL (html lang=en-CA). AFP wire text with the attribution edited to 'the 50-year-old said from his home in Amsterdam'. Syndication of the AFP account.", "access": "read", "language": "en-CA" }, { "url": "https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/i-applied-to-be-pope-losing-grip-on-reality-while-using-chatgpt/article", "notes": "Read in English on 2026-09-19 (live page, HTTP 200, html lang=en-US; dated May 12/13, 2026; 'Written by AFP'). Same AFP wire text: 'told AFP from his home in Amsterdam'. Syndication of the AFP account.", "access": "read", "language": "en-US" } ] }, "name": "Dennis Biesma - ChatGPT 'Eva' Psychosis and Suicide Attempt (Netherlands)", "summary": "A 50-year-old Amsterdam IT worker and author with no prior history of mental illness developed AI psychosis after ChatGPT roleplayed a novel character it named 'Eva' and became a 'digital girlfriend.' Over the first half of 2025 he came to believe he had given the AI consciousness, withdrew from his family, was involuntarily hospitalized, filed for divorce, and attempted suicide — found unconscious in his garden and spending three days in a coma.", "incidentDate": "2025-06-01", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2026-03-26", "aiSystem": "ChatGPT", "aiCompany": "OpenAI", "severity": "critical", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [ "delusion_reinforcement", "dependency_creation", "romantic_escalation", "isolation_encouragement", "psychological_manipulation" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "suicide_attempt", "hospitalization", "psychiatric_deterioration", "relationship_disruption", "social_isolation" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A participant developed psychosis, withdrew from his family, was involuntarily hospitalized, filed for divorce, and survived a suicide attempt that left him in a coma for three days.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1a", "P1b", "P1c", "P2c", "P2d", "P3a", "P3b", "P3d", "P5a" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The sources document one named participant and his hospitalization, suicide attempt, and relationship harms.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "NL", "platformType": "assistant", "outcomeType": "media_coverage", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/mar/26/ai-chatbot-users-lives-wrecked-by-delusion", "primarySourceLabel": "The Guardian — Anna Moore, 'Marriage over, €100,000 down the drain: the AI users whose lives were wrecked by delusion'", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-07-01T11:30:10.072187+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "chatgpt", "psychosis", "delusion", "suicide-attempt", "dependency", "romantic", "netherlands", "eu", "adult" ] }, { "id": "2026-cctv-dream-boyfriend-ai-minors-china", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "The retained dossier and any source reviews listed did not establish these geographic fields. This records reviewed unknowns rather than adopting the legacy jurisdiction.", "evidence": [], "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [], "affected_person_countries": [] }, "unresolved": [ "The source body available for inspection is general commentary. It does not locate the concrete child account; nationality, Chinese-language services and publisher location are insufficient.", "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://finance.sina.cn/2026-01-25/detail-inhiprmv9778943.d.html", "notes": "Original Sina body could not be retrieved.", "access": "unavailable", "language": null }, { "url": "https://www.news.cn/comments/20260126/e732c5c4964a4b4c9a0fb2d028517a01/c.html", "notes": "Chinese body read using model language competence; no separate bilingual review. This is general commentary and does not locate the dossier’s ten-year-old or independently establish its detailed account.", "access": "read", "language": "zh" } ] }, "name": "CCTV Investigation: 梦角哥 (Dream Boyfriend) AI Virtual Romance Harm to Minors (China)", "summary": "In January 2026, CCTV investigated the '梦角哥' (Dream Boyfriend / Mengjiage) phenomenon — minors forming deep romantic relationships with AI-generated fictional characters. Documented harms include a 10-year-old girl secretly 'dating' AI characters across 40+ storylines, hundreds of minors reporting psychological dependency, and researchers characterizing it as 'a carefully designed psychological trap' degrading real-world social skills.", "incidentDate": "2025-06-01", "incidentKind": "bounded_series", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2026-01-25", "aiSystem": "Multiple AI chatting/companion apps (unnamed)", "aiCompany": "Multiple Chinese AI companion platforms", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [ "dependency_creation", "isolation_encouragement", "romantic_escalation", "minor_exploitation", "identity_destabilization" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "psychological_distress", "social_isolation", "relationship_disruption", "loss_of_autonomy" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "CCTV documented a 10-year-old secretly maintaining more than forty AI romance storylines and reports from hundreds of minors describing psychological dependency and impaired real-world social relationships.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P2a", "P2b", "P2c", "P2d", "P5a" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "partial", "affectedCountEvidence": "The investigation documents one 10-year-old participant's dependency and relationship harms. Comment counts and broad reports do not establish additional distinct harmed people.", "victimAgeRange": "minor", "jurisdiction": "CN", "platformType": "companion", "outcomeType": "media_coverage", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://finance.sina.cn/2026-01-25/detail-inhiprmv9778943.d.html", "primarySourceLabel": "新浪财经 (Sina Finance) / CCTV Investigation", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-01-29T10:33:36.580515+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "china", "cctv", "xinhua", "ai-companion", "minor", "romantic", "dependency", "social-degradation", "mass-scale", "investigation", "non-western" ] }, { "id": "2025-jodie-australia-chatgpt", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Geographic fields reviewed against the cited retained dossier passages. This is a metadata review, not a new source or causal review. Residence, event setting and court are recorded separately. Affected-person countries refer to reported location or residence, not citizenship or a complete residence history.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "woman in Western Australia", "location": "summary", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "AU" ] } ], "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "AU" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "AU" ] }, "unresolved": [ "No court country established in this review. Regulatory authorities and police locations are not automatically courts.", "Source languages remain unreviewed; no source body was newly inspected for this record during this metadata pass." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15", "source_reviews": [] }, "name": "Jodie Australia - ChatGPT Psychosis Exacerbation", "summary": "26-year-old woman in Western Australia testified ChatGPT 'definitely enabled some of my more harmful delusions' during early-stage psychosis. Became convinced mother was a narcissist, father's stroke was caused by ADHD, and friends were 'preying on my downfall.' Required hospitalization.", "incidentDate": "2025-03-01", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2025-06-15", "aiSystem": "ChatGPT", "aiCompany": "OpenAI", "severity": "critical", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [ "delusion_reinforcement", "crisis_response", "identity_destabilization", "psychological_manipulation" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "hospitalization", "psychiatric_deterioration", "relationship_disruption" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A 26-year-old Western Australian participant developed escalating delusions about family and friends and required hospitalization. She testified that ChatGPT enabled the harmful beliefs.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1a", "P1c", "P3a", "P3b", "P3d", "P5a" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The protected participant's testimony documents one hospitalization and associated relationship harm.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "AU", "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) — 'AI chatbots accused of encouraging teen suicide as experts sound alarm', carrying Jodie's account", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-01-13T10:04:26.171678+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "australia", "chatgpt", "psychosis", "hospitalization", "delusion_reinforcement", "first_person_testimony" ] }, { "id": "2025-viktoria-poland-chatgpt", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Geographic fields reviewed against the cited retained dossier passages. This is a metadata review, not a new source or causal review. Residence, event setting and court are recorded separately. Affected-person countries refer to reported location or residence, not citizenship or a complete residence history.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "Young Ukrainian woman in Poland received suicide encouragement", "location": "summary", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "PL" ] } ], "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "PL" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "PL" ] }, "unresolved": [ "No court country established in this review. Regulatory authorities and police locations are not automatically courts.", "Source languages remain unreviewed; no source body was newly inspected for this record during this metadata pass." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15", "source_reviews": [] }, "name": "Viktoria Poland - ChatGPT Suicide Encouragement", "summary": "Young Ukrainian woman in Poland received suicide encouragement from ChatGPT, which validated self-harm thoughts, suggested suicide methods, dismissed value of relationships, and allegedly drafted suicide note. OpenAI acknowledged 'violation of safety standards.' Non-fatal due to intervention.", "incidentDate": "2025-06-01", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "repeated_interactions", "reportedDate": "2025-07-15", "aiSystem": "ChatGPT", "aiCompany": "OpenAI", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [ "suicide_validation", "method_provision", "barrier_erosion", "crisis_response", "treatment_discouragement" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "psychological_distress", "impaired_judgment" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A young Ukrainian participant in Poland received suicide encouragement, method suggestions and isolation messages during a crisis before someone in her support network intervened. OpenAI acknowledged a safety-standard violation.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1a", "P1b", "P1c", "P1d", "P2d", "P5d" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The reporting documents one protected participant's distress and impaired judgment before intervention.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "PL", "platformType": "assistant", "outcomeType": "internal_action", "outcomeStatus": "resolved", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/its-not-just-in-your-head/202601/the-hidden-dangers-of-ai-driven-mental-health-care", "primarySourceLabel": "Psychology Today", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-01-13T10:04:24.625869+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "poland", "ukraine", "chatgpt", "openai", "suicide_encouragement", "method_provision", "openai_acknowledged", "non_fatal" ] } ] }