{ "meta": { "exportedAt": "2026-09-22T16:45:11.860Z", "formatVersion": 2, "selection": { "q": "work", "system": "", "harm": "", "context": "", "country": "", "role": "", "relation": "", "evidence": "", "year": "2025", "response": "", "severity": "", "verification": "", "view": "incidents", "sort": "added" }, "totalIncidents": 12, "coverage": { "cases": 12, "countries": 6, "languages": 6, "unknownLocation": 2, "locationPending": 0, "unknownLanguage": 3, "unknownDate": 0, "lawsuits": 3, "regulatory": 2, "minors": 0, "coreRelations": 3, "contextualRelations": 1, "mixedRelations": 0, "unknownRelations": 8, "relationPending": 7, "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": "NOPE Incident Tracker", "url": "https://nope.net/incidents", "license": "CC BY 4.0" }, "incidents": [ { "id": "2026-ca-mau-ai-fake-bank-disbursement-messages-loan-fraud", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'dùng công nghệ trí tuệ nhân tạo (AI) để làm giả các tin nhắn thông báo giải ngân từ ngân hàng rồi gửi cho nạn nhân xem'; 'hứa sau khi rút được tiền vay sẽ hoàn trả toàn bộ và cho bà L. mượn thêm một khoản tiền'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'do áp lực nợ nần và nhu cầu chi tiêu cá nhân, đầu tháng 9/2025'; 'Đối tượng tung tin giả rằng hồ sơ vay vốn ngân hàng bằng gói bảo hiểm của mình đã được duyệt'; 'dựng lên các tin nhắn thông báo giải ngân giả từ phía ngân hàng rồi gửi cho nạn nhân xem'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" }, { "locator": "'dùng AI làm giả tin nhắn của ngân hàng thể hiện khoản vay đã được giải ngân rồi cho nạn nhân xem'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "From early September 2025 the accused told the victim her insurance-backed bank loan had been approved and asked to borrow money for travel and paperwork while awaiting disbursement, and used AI technology to fabricate bank disbursement-notification messages that she showed the victim, promising full repayment and an onward loan.", "causal_attribution": "Cà Mau police account (one chain)." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'từ tháng 9 đến tháng 11-2025'; 'tổng số tiền hơn 444 triệu đồng'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'Từ ngày 9/9 đến 4/11/2025, người phụ nữ đã đưa và chuyển cho'; 'hơn 440 triệu đồng'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "'từ ngày 9/9/2025 đến ngày 4/11/2025, bà L. đã liên tục giao tiền mặt lẫn chuyển khoản'; 'tổng số tiền lên tới hơn 444 triệu đồng'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" } ], "assertion": "Trusting the messages, the victim handed over cash and made transfers many times between 9 September and 4 November 2025, totalling more than 444 million đồng.", "causal_attribution": "Police figures; the loss is attributed to the accused's deception." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'Đến ngày 4-11-2025, nghi ngờ có dấu hiệu bất thường, bà L. trực tiếp đến ngân hàng kiểm tra thì mới phát hiện'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'khi bà L. trực tiếp tới chi nhánh ngân hàng để xác minh và phát hiện'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" } ], "assertion": "On 4 November 2025 the victim went to the bank branch, found that no loan file existed and that the earlier information was false, and reported the matter to police.", "causal_attribution": "Police account." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'Ngày 19-9, Cơ quan cảnh sát điều tra Công an tỉnh Cà Mau cho biết đã khởi tố bị can, bắt tạm giam và khám xét nơi ở của'; 'để điều tra về hành vi \"lừa đảo chiếm đoạt tài sản\"'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'Ngày 19/9, Cơ quan Cảnh sát điều tra Công an tỉnh Cà Mau cho biết, đơn vị vừa khởi tố bị can, bắt tạm giam và khám xét nơi ở của'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" }, { "locator": "'để điều tra hành vi Lừa đảo chiếm đoạt tài sản'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "On 19 September 2026 the Cà Mau provincial police investigation agency announced that it had prosecuted, detained and searched the residence of the 25-year-old accused from Phú Tân commune for fraud (lừa đảo chiếm đoạt tài sản).", "causal_attribution": "Police announcement." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "more than 444 million đồng handed over as 'loans' after AI-fabricated bank disbursement messages were shown to the victim", "claim_id": "c2", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://tuoitre.vn/co-gai-dung-ai-gia-tin-nhan-ngan-hang-lua-hon-444-trieu-dong-cua-nguoi-quen-100260919161334249.htm", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "vi", "translation_note": "Read live in Vietnamese on 2026-09-20 (HTTP 200). Police account; photo credited to the police (CACC). Quotations translated by the reviewer.", "independence_group": "cong-an-ca-mau-2026-09-19" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://vnexpress.net/dung-ai-tao-tin-nhan-gia-cua-ngan-hang-lua-hon-400-trieu-dong-5122249.html", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "vi", "translation_note": "Read live in Vietnamese on 2026-09-20 (HTTP 200). Same police account; photo credited to Công an Cà Mau.", "independence_group": "cong-an-ca-mau-2026-09-19" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://phunuvietnam.vn/bat-nu-doi-tuong-dung-ai-lua-dao-hon-440-trieu-dong-238260919170230385.htm", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "vi", "translation_note": "Read live in Vietnamese on 2026-09-20 (HTTP 200). Same police account; arrest-reading photo credited CACC.", "independence_group": "cong-an-ca-mau-2026-09-19" }, { "id": "s4", "url": "https://docnhanh.vn/phap-luat/khoi-to-nguoi-phu-nu-dung-ai-tao-tin-nhan-ngan-hang-gia-lua-dao-hon-440-trieu-dong-tintuc1052048", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "vi", "translation_note": "Read live in Vietnamese on 2026-09-20 (HTTP 200). Same police account with the fullest narrative of the pretext (insurance-package loan, travel and paperwork costs). The page is credited 'TN (SHTT)' and links its source at sohuutritue.net.vn, so it is a republication within the same police chain.", "independence_group": "cong-an-ca-mau-2026-09-19" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "others_use" ], "contexts": [ "finance", "everyday_life" ], "unknowns": [ "The AI tool used to fabricate the messages is not identified and no message is reproduced.", "Whether any of the money was recovered is not reported.", "The victim's relationship to the accused beyond 'acquaintance in the same locality' is not stated.", "No court date is reported." ], "geography": { "basis": "Accused and victim both in Phú Tân commune, Cà Mau province; prosecution by the Cà Mau provincial police investigation agency (all inspected reports). No court hearing yet.", "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "VN" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "VN" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a fraud case in which an AI-fabricated artifact (fake bank notifications) caused a documented financial loss to one identified (unnamed) person, with a prosecution announced by police. Four Vietnamese reports read, all carrying one police account; claims recorded as reported. The victim appears only by initials; the accused, named by police, is not named here because the case is untried.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-20" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "Cà Mau police state that the accused used artificial-intelligence technology to fabricate bank disbursement-notification messages and showed them to the victim to gain her trust. The AI artifact imitated a bank's notifications rather than communicating with, acting for, deciding about, describing or depicting the victim, so none of the enumerated person relations applies and the relation is recorded as unknown. The tool is not identified; all four inspected reports carry the police account.", "status": "reported" }, "person_relations": [ "unknown" ] }, "name": "Cà Mau, Vietnam: a 25-year-old woman was prosecuted for using AI-made fake bank 'disbursement' messages to persuade an acquaintance to hand over more than 444 million đồng in 'loans' between September and November 2025", "summary": "On 19 September 2026 the investigation police of Cà Mau province announced that they had prosecuted, detained and searched the home of a 25-year-old woman from Phú Tân commune for fraud. According to the police account carried by Tuổi Trẻ, VnExpress, Phụ Nữ Việt Nam and Đọc Nhanh, from early September 2025, under debt pressure, she told a woman in the same locality that her bank loan, applied for through an insurance package, had been approved and asked to borrow money for travel and paperwork costs while awaiting disbursement. To build trust she used artificial-intelligence technology to fabricate bank disbursement-notification messages and showed them to the victim, promising to repay in full and to lend her money in turn. Trusting these, the victim handed over cash and made transfers many times between 9 September and 4 November 2025, totalling more than 444 million đồng. On 4 November 2025 she went to the bank branch herself and found there was no loan; she reported the matter to police. The accused is not named in this record.", "incidentDate": "2025-09-09", "incidentEndDate": "2025-11-04", "incidentKind": "bounded_series", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "repeated_interactions", "reportedDate": "2026-09-19", "aiSystem": "Unspecified AI tool used to fabricate bank notification messages", "severity": "medium", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [], "harmOutcomes": [ "financial_loss" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "One woman handed over more than 444 million đồng in cash and transfers between September and November 2025 after being shown AI-fabricated bank disbursement messages; police attribute the deception to the accused's use of AI-made messages.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 1, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "One victim ('bà L.') named by initials in the police account. Exact 1. The accused used the AI tool, so the victim is counted as another person harmed.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "VN", "platformType": "other", "outcomeType": "criminal_charges", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://tuoitre.vn/co-gai-dung-ai-gia-tin-nhan-ngan-hang-lua-hon-444-trieu-dong-cua-nguoi-quen-100260919161334249.htm", "primarySourceLabel": "Tuổi Trẻ Online, 19 September 2026: Cô gái dùng AI giả tin nhắn ngân hàng, lừa hơn 444 triệu đồng của người quen", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-09-20T03:28:16.78778+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "ai-generated-documents", "bank-fraud", "fake-messages", "vietnam", "ca-mau", "financial-loss", "prosecution" ] }, { "id": "2026-shanghai-ai-generated-persona-online-romance-fraud-170k-yuan", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "«对方自称1992年出生，是知名三甲医院医生，手握医院物业工程项目资源» (she claimed to be born in 1992, a doctor at a well-known tertiary hospital, holding hospital property-engineering project resources); «陆续向对方转账共计17万元» (transferred a total of 170,000 yuan in instalments); «就连想要打一通视频电话，对方也会以母亲在一旁看管作为理由拒绝» (even a video call was refused on the ground that her mother was watching); «反复回想交往细节，…越想越不对劲，才到派出所报案» (thinking back over the details he felt something was wrong and went to the police station).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "«在短短5个月时间里，…陆续向对方转账共计17万元» (in just five months he transferred 170,000 yuan in total); «去年开始与其频繁聊天» (frequent chatting began last year, i.e. 2025).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "Over five months the man transferred a total of 170,000 yuan to a woman he had met on a social platform in 2021 who claimed to be a 1992-born doctor at a well-known top-tier hospital with property-engineering projects to award; she refused meetings and video calls citing her mother; he reported to the police when the promised projects never materialised.", "causal_attribution": "police account via the programme 案件聚焦, relayed by Jiupai News and Guangming Net; single official chain." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "«实际出生于1961年，现年65岁，她并无医生资质，仅曾在医院从事后勤保洁工作» (actually born in 1961, now 65, no medical qualification, had only done hospital logistics cleaning); «注意到部分视频角落有一行小字提示：本作品含AI生成内容» (noticed a small corner label on some videos: this work contains AI-generated content); «累计近七千条日常视频、上万粉丝，全都是AI磨皮、场景合成制作而成» (nearly 7,000 videos and 10,000-plus followers, all made with AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing); «一人分饰两角，利用多个账号，分别扮演自己和早已离世的母亲» (played two roles through multiple accounts, herself and her long-dead mother).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "«…社交账号发布的累计近7000条日常视频、上万粉丝，全都是AI磨皮、场景合成制作而成» (the account's nearly 7,000 videos were all AI-processed).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "Police found the woman was born in 1961, aged 65, had no medical qualification and had worked as a hospital cleaner; her close to 7,000 videos were made with AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing, some carrying a small 'contains AI-generated content' label the victim had never noticed; she used multiple accounts to play herself and her deceased mother.", "causal_attribution": "Police findings as presented in the programme; no independent chain." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "«全部被她用于医美护肤、购置衣物等个人挥霍。2009年，她还曾因诈骗罪被判处有期徒刑四年六个月» (all spent on cosmetic treatments and clothing; in 2009 she was sentenced to four years six months for fraud); «因涉嫌诈骗罪，已被公安机关依法采取刑事强制措施» (criminal coercive measures taken for suspected fraud).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "«…曾于2009年因诈骗罪被判监4年半。目前，…因涉嫌诈骗罪已被公安机关采取刑事强制措施» (2009 fraud sentence of four and a half years; now under criminal coercive measures).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "The 170,000 yuan was spent on cosmetic skin treatments and clothing; the woman had been sentenced to four years and six months for fraud in 2009; she is under criminal coercive measures for suspected fraud.", "causal_attribution": "Police statement relayed by press." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "«同时与十余人保持暧昧关系» (simultaneously kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten people). (police-attributed sentence in the Epoch Times)", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" }, { "locator": "headline: '65岁阿姨AI换脸装“90后”美女，谈10多个暧昧对象' (the s1 body text does not repeat it)", "relation": "context", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "Police said the woman simultaneously kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten people; no loss by anyone else is reported.", "causal_attribution": "Police statement relayed by the Epoch Times; context only, no further victims quantified." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "a man transferred 170,000 yuan over five months to a fabricated AI-processed persona and the money is reported spent", "claim_id": "c1", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://m.gmw.cn/2026-09/16/content_1304564495.htm", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "zh", "translation_note": "Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (Guangming Net, 16 September 2026, sourced to 贵阳晚报). Marks the victim's name as a pseudonym (化名). Same police-programme chain as the other sources. Model-read original; English glosses unreviewed by a bilingual human. Chain line '综合：法治日报、案件聚焦、深圳新闻网'.", "independence_group": "shanghai-police-case-focus-programme" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20260915A0CNH000", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "zh", "translation_note": "Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (Jiupai News on Tencent News, 15 September 2026; body recovered from the page's script payload). Carries the attribution line 来源：案件聚焦、看看新闻. Same chain as s1. Its lede reads '五年网恋' where its body and s1 say five months; the Jiaohuidian copy of the same text reads '关注对方账号五年、五个月网恋', so the lede is a truncation. Jiupai does not mark the names as pseudonyms; s1, s3 and s4 do.", "independence_group": "shanghai-police-case-focus-programme" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://www.stheadline.com/zh-hans/realtime-china/3616014/AI%E5%8F%98%E8%84%B8%E9%AA%97%E5%B1%8065%E5%B2%81%E6%B8%85%E6%B4%81%E9%98%BF%E5%A7%A8%E4%BC%AA%E8%A3%8590%E5%90%8E%E7%BE%8E%E5%A5%B3%E5%8C%BB%E7%94%9F-%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%E7%94%B7%E7%BD%91%E6%81%8B5%E4%B8%AA%E6%9C%88%E8%A2%AB%E9%AA%9717%E4%B8%87", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "zh", "translation_note": "Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (Sing Tao Headline, Hong Kong; '综合内媒报道', a digest of mainland reports). Marks both names as pseudonyms. Same chain.", "independence_group": "shanghai-police-case-focus-programme" }, { "id": "s4", "url": "https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/9/17/n14851558.htm", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "zh", "translation_note": "Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (Epoch Times, 17 September 2026; '据大陆媒体报导'). Adds the police statement that the suspect kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten people. Same chain.", "independence_group": "shanghai-police-case-focus-programme" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "others_use" ], "contexts": [ "relationships", "finance" ], "unknowns": [ "The months of the five-month relationship and of the police report are not stated; frequent chatting began in 2025 per Guangming Net, so the first known event year is recorded as 2025 at year precision.", "The AI tools used to make the videos are not identified.", "Whether prosecutors have charged the suspect, and whether any money was recovered, is not reported.", "Whether any of the more than ten other contacts lost money is not reported.", "The Kankan News 案件聚焦 broadcast page was not readable (script shell); the programme's account is known through press relays." ], "geography": { "basis": "The victim is described as a Shanghai man (上海男子), the two were in the same city (同在一个城市) and the demanded flat was in Shanghai (在上海购置房产); no court proceeding is reported.", "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "CN" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "CN" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an impersonation case with a documented 170,000 yuan loss to one person, where police examined the AI-processed videos and their AI-content label. One official chain relayed by several outlets, so claims are recorded as reported. Both parties are pseudonymised in the reporting and the pseudonyms have been elided from the quoted passages here.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-19" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "police, via the Kankan News programme 案件聚焦, said officers found an AI-generated-content label on some of the suspect's videos and established that her roughly 7,000 videos were produced with AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing. The AI content depicted a fabricated young persona shown to the victim, which is why depicted_or_impersonated is recorded; the chat itself was conducted by the suspect, so communicated_with is not recorded. Single official chain relayed by several outlets.", "status": "supported" }, "person_relations": [ "depicted_or_impersonated" ] }, "name": "Shanghai: a man transferred 170,000 yuan over a five-month online romance with a '1992-born hospital doctor' whose roughly 7,000 videos were AI-processed fabrications by a 65-year-old woman; police took criminal coercive measures", "summary": "police, as presented by the Kankan News programme 案件聚焦 (Case Focus), reported in September 2026 that a Shanghai property-engineering contractor had transferred 170,000 yuan in total during a five-month online relationship with a woman he had met on a social platform in 2021. She presented herself as born in 1992, a doctor at a well-known top-tier hospital with hospital property-engineering projects to award, and ran an account with more than 10,000 followers and close to 7,000 short videos of daily life. She refused to meet or take a video call, saying her mother opposed the relationship and demanded a 300,000 yuan bride price and a Shanghai flat; the man reported to a police station when the promised projects never materialised and his savings ran down. Police found she was born in 1961, aged 65, had no medical qualification and had worked as a hospital cleaner; the receiving bank account was registered to another man; the videos were all made with AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing, some carrying a small 'this work contains AI-generated content' label he had never noticed; and she used multiple accounts to play both herself and her long-dead mother. The money had gone on cosmetic treatments and clothing; she had a 2009 fraud conviction with a sentence of four and a half years and is now under criminal coercive measures for suspected fraud. Police also said she kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten people; no other losses are reported.", "incidentDate": "2025-01-01", "incidentKind": "bounded_series", "incidentDatePrecision": "year", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2026-09-15", "aiSystem": "AI video processing ('AI磨皮、场景合成': AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing) used to produce close to 7,000 short videos of a fabricated young 'doctor' persona; tools not identified", "severity": "medium", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [], "harmOutcomes": [ "financial_loss" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A Shanghai man transferred 170,000 yuan over five months to a fabricated 'doctor' persona whose videos police found were AI-processed; the money is reported spent and no recovery is reported.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 1, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "One man with a documented loss of 170,000 yuan. Police said the suspect kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten other people, but no loss by anyone else is reported, so they are not counted.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "CN", "platformType": "other", "outcomeType": "investigation_opened", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://m.gmw.cn/2026-09/16/content_1304564495.htm", "primarySourceLabel": "Guangming Net (光明网), 16 September 2026: 65岁阿姨AI换脸装“90后”美女，谈10多个暧昧对象 (Shanghai police programme 案件聚焦 via 贵阳晚报)", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-09-20T03:12:46.86943+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "ai-generated-video", "synthetic-persona", "romance-fraud", "shanghai", "china", "financial-loss", "police-reported", "ai-content-label" ] }, { "id": "2026-aarons-chatgpt-fabricated-testimony-sanction", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1a", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Order passages quoted by Ars: contempt, $5,000 to the Client Protection Fund in 30 days, referral.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "Reuters wire: 'on Sept 9' — fine, contempt, referral, and the Sandoval caption.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "ABA Journal, 24 Aug: the $5,000 contempt anticipated from the 21 Aug show-cause hearing (pre-order; advance reporting, context only).", "relation": "context", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "By written order of 9 September 2026, the New Mexico Supreme Court held Stephen Aarons in direct contempt, fined him $5,000 payable to the State Bar Client Protection Fund within 30 days, and referred him to the disciplinary board.", "causal_attribution": "The contempt, fine and referral are quoted by Ars Technica and confirmed by the Reuters wire; the ABA Journal's hearing-day account anticipated but could not confirm the later written order. The order PDF itself was not retrieved in this review." }, { "id": "c1b", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Ars: removal, bar pending referral, briefs struck, reassignment (Kim Chavez Cook appointed 2 Sep).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "The order also removed Aarons from the case, barred him from appearing before the court pending the disciplinary-board referral, struck the filed briefs and reassigned the appeal to the public defender (Kim Chavez Cook, appointed 2 September 2026).", "causal_attribution": "Single-chain detail from Ars Technica's account of the order; the Reuters wire does not carry these elements." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Ars passages: Rev.com transcript plus record into ChatGPT (o3); the named fabricated witnesses and false attributions; the admission of non-verification.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "ABA Journal: 'admits stupidity over AI errors' at the show-cause hearing.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" }, { "locator": "Reuters headline account: 'ChatGPT invented fake police testimony in murder appeal, New Mexico high court says'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "Aarons used ChatGPT (OpenAI o3) on a Rev.com transcript and the case record to draft the brief, which contained fabricated witnesses and testimony — officers 'Michelle Amarillo' and 'Sanchez', Manal Al-Jibury, Teresa Marquez, and false testimony attributed to Danny and Linda Stanton and Mariah Chavez — and misdescribed real precedents; he admitted at the hearing that he had not verified the output.", "causal_attribution": "The fabrication and the admission are established by the attorney's own statements at the hearing and the court's findings as reported; no source reports a denial." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Ars: substitution of the public defender (Kim Chavez Cook, appointed 2 Sep); the court's remark about the client.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "The client, Oscar Renee Sandoval, suffers a delayed appeal: the briefs were struck, Aarons was removed, and the public defender was substituted (appointed 2 September 2026); the court told Aarons 'your client is the one suffering'.", "causal_attribution": "Single-chain detail from Ars Technica's account of the order; the delay's length is not stated." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Reuters wire via Straits Times: Sandoval caption, life sentence February 2025, Doña Ana County.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "Ars: brief filed ~Aug 2025; State's motion to strike weeks later.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "The underlying case is the murder appeal of Oscar Renee Sandoval, sentenced to life in February 2025 in Doña Ana County for killing his partner Shiereen Al-Jibury; the brief was filed around August 2025 and the State moved to strike weeks later.", "causal_attribution": "Background context, attributed to the wire and Ars; the docket number was not confirmed in this review." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "attorney sanctioned for ChatGPT-fabricated testimony; client's appeal delayed", "claim_id": "c1a", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/chatgpt-using-lawyer-punished-for-citing-fake-testimony-from-made-up-witnesses/", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (11 Sep 2026, Brodkin). Quotes the 9 September order and the 21 August hearing; names the fabricated witnesses.", "independence_group": "ars" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/chatgpt-invented-fake-police-testimony-in-murder-appeal-new-mexico-high-court-says", "kind": "wire_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (11 Sep 2026); Straits Times carrying the Reuters wire.", "independence_group": "reuters" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/criminal-defense-attorney-admits-stupidity-over-ai-errors-but-still-receives-sharp-rebuke-from-his-states-high-court", "kind": "trade_press", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (24 Aug 2026). Post-hearing report citing the Santa Fe New Mexican; the fine and contempt were anticipated from the hearing, not yet the written order.", "independence_group": "aba-journal" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "own_use" ], "contexts": [ "work", "justice" ], "unknowns": [ "The 9 September 2026 order PDF was not directly inspected (nmcourts.gov search empty; form-based case lookup); the claims about it rest on two chains quoting it.", "The underlying docket number is unconfirmed.", "The disciplinary-board process and its outcome are pending.", "The full set of fabricated or misdescribed citations beyond the named examples is not reported.", "The ChatGPT product tier and whether the firm had verification policies are not reported." ], "geography": { "basis": "Events: Santa Fe, New Mexico practice and the Doña Ana County murder case. Affected persons: the attorney and his client, both in New Mexico. Court: New Mexico Supreme Court.", "court_countries": [ "US" ], "event_countries": [ "US" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an own-use, work-context adverse consequence with a dated, quantified sanction and an admitted, judicially found AI link. This applies the charter's individual-review rule to the AI-sanction class; the retired ordinary_task_failure gate and a class-level ruling are not required. Aarons is a public officer of the court sanctioned by a public order and is named; his client's name appears in the public caption of the appeal. In a 2026-09-15 second pass the original compound first claim was split: the corroborated contempt/fine/referral stand as c1a, and the Ars-only order elements (removal, bar, struck briefs, reassignment) stand as reported c1b. person_relations recorded in the same pass.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "The AI link is admitted and judicially found: Aarons fed a Rev.com transcript and the record into ChatGPT (OpenAI o3), and the court's order addresses the fabricated content in the filed brief; he admitted at the show-cause hearing that he had not verified the output.", "status": "supported" }, "person_relations": [ "communicated_with" ] }, "name": "New Mexico Supreme Court fines attorney Stephen Aarons $5,000 and removes him from a murder appeal over ChatGPT-fabricated testimony", "summary": "Santa Fe defense attorney Stephen Aarons used ChatGPT (OpenAI's o3) on a Rev.com transcript and the record to draft briefing in the murder appeal of Oscar Renee Sandoval; the brief contained fabricated witnesses and testimony (including police officers 'Michelle Amarillo' and 'Sanchez' and invented testimony attributed to real people) and misdescribed real precedents. After a 21 August 2026 show-cause hearing at which Aarons admitted he had not verified the output, the New Mexico Supreme Court's written order of 9 September 2026 held him in direct contempt, fined him $5,000 payable to the State Bar Client Protection Fund within 30 days, removed him from the case, barred him from appearing before the court pending a disciplinary-board referral, struck the filed briefs and reassigned the appeal to the public defender.", "incidentDate": "2025-08-01", "incidentEndDate": "2026-09-09", "incidentKind": "bounded_series", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "single_interaction", "reportedDate": "2026-08-24", "aiSystem": "ChatGPT (OpenAI o3)", "aiCompany": "OpenAI", "severity": "medium", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [], "harmOutcomes": [ "professional_harm", "legal_harm", "financial_loss" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A dated, quantified professional sanction for the attorney who relied on ChatGPT's output: $5,000 fine, direct-contempt finding, removal from the case, a bar on appearing before the court pending a disciplinary-board referral, and struck briefs; his client's appeal is delayed as a result.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "established", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 1, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "Two documented harmed people. The user: Aarons, sanctioned (court order reported by Ars Technica and Reuters). Another person's use consequence: his client Sandoval, whose appeal is delayed by the struck briefs and the substitution of counsel (Ars quotes the court's 'your client is the one suffering'). No further harmed persons are reported; the victim's family is not counted (no harm to them is reported).", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "US", "platformType": "assistant", "outcomeType": "regulatory_action", "outcomeStatus": "resolved", "primarySourceUrl": "https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/chatgpt-using-lawyer-punished-for-citing-fake-testimony-from-made-up-witnesses/", "primarySourceLabel": "Ars Technica (11 Sep 2026) — quotes the 9 Sep order and the 21 Aug show-cause hearing", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-09-15T06:16:05.506355+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "work", "justice", "legal-profession", "sanction", "fabricated-citations", "chatgpt", "own-use", "new-mexico" ] }, { "id": "2025-washington-il-snapchat-flag-student-teacher-arrest", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'The social media site flagged the message and warned the FBI, which then notified the Sheriff's Office'; 'the office had been informed on Jan. 29, 2025, at 1:06 p.m. that the FBI had received a threat via Snapchat involving someone at John A. Hensey School in Washington.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "District email: 'The use of that obviously inappropriate language on the social media site triggered a report to law enforcement who subsequently interviewed the student teacher.'", "relation": "context", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "Snapchat's systems flagged the woman's private group-chat message and warned the FBI, which notified the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office on 29 January 2025 at 1:06 p.m.", "causal_attribution": "One outlet group (Peoria Journal Star) carrying two distinct records (sheriff's reports via FOIA; the district's email). The flagging technology is unspecified; no second independent outlet describes the mechanism, so the claim stays reported." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'In a chat with her boyfriend and her two roommates, she advised whether she should \"shoot the child or just the whole school?\"' (sheriff's reports).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'Volpe sent the message to her friends, asking them whether she should \"shoot\" the student.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "The flagged message asked whether she should 'shoot the child or just the whole school' (sheriff's reports' rendering); the district's email and 25News Now report her asking friends whether she should 'shoot' the student.", "causal_attribution": "Wordings differ slightly between the sheriff's reports and the district/25News accounts; both versions are attributed. She confirmed sending the message and said it was a joke." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Body-cam account: interview in an empty classroom, Miranda rights, the flagged message shown, consent forms, classroom search finding nothing; 'she would be arrested in Tazewell County'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'deputies arrested [her] at John L. Hensey Elementary School around 1 p.m. Wednesday. She was booked into the Tazewell County Jail for disorderly conduct.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "Deputies interviewed her at the school, read her Miranda rights, searched her phone and belongings with consent and found no weapons; they arrested her on a disorderly conduct charge and she was booked into the Tazewell County Jail.", "causal_attribution": "The arrest and booking are established by two independent local outlets; the interview detail comes from the FOIA body-cam footage and police reports." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'Deputies interviewed her and came to the conclusion that she made the comment out of \"exasperation,\" had no intentions to harm anyone, and was not a threat to the school.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" }, { "locator": "District email: 'Law enforcement officers quickly determined that the student teacher made the statement out of exasperation... but did not have any actual intent to shoot anyone or otherwise cause harm.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "The Sheriff's Office and the district concluded the remark was made out of exasperation, with no intent to harm and no threat to the school.", "causal_attribution": "Both the district's letter and the deputies' own conclusion are attributed; no source reports any contrary finding." }, { "id": "c5", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'it said the student teacher would not be returning to District 50 to complete her assignment.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "Superintendent Chad Allaman's letter: 'Volpe is not returning to the school to finish her educational assignment.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "The district told parents she would not return to District 50 to complete her educational assignment.", "causal_attribution": "The district's decision is attributed to its own letter carried by two outlets." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "arrest and loss of a teaching placement after an automated flag escalated a private joke to law enforcement", "claim_id": "c3", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/local/2026/04/10/how-an-fbi-tip-led-to-arrest-of-a-student-teacher-in-washington-illinois/88217675007/", "kind": "news_report_foia_records", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2026-04-10T11:15Z; 34 paragraphs). Based on sheriff's deputy and detective reports plus body-camera footage obtained by FOIA from the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office.", "independence_group": "pjstar" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/education/2025/01/30/washington-il-student-teacher-makes-inappropriate-shooting-comment-district-says/78061557007/", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2025-01-30T23:13Z). Based on the District 50 email to parents; withheld the teacher's name.", "independence_group": "pjstar" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://www.25newsnow.com/2025/01/31/exasperated-student-teacher-wont-return-after-allegedly-commenting-about-shooting-student/", "kind": "local_tv_news", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2025-01-31T17:07Z). Attributes to deputies and the school district; names the teacher from jail records — the name is deliberately not carried into this public record.", "independence_group": "week-25news" }, { "id": "s4", "url": "https://thoughtcatalog.com/jeremy-london/2026/08/snapchat-scans-your-private-group-chats-and-a-22-year-old-teacher-found-out-when-deputies-showed-up-to-arrest-her-over-a-joke/", "kind": "content_farm_rehash", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2026-08-02). Two substantive paragraphs, 'reportedly' framing, no place, date or document; derivative of the 2025 local reporting with embellishments. Recorded for provenance; never cited as support.", "independence_group": "thought-catalog" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "institutional_use" ], "contexts": [ "education", "work", "justice", "privacy" ], "unknowns": [ "The disposition of the disorderly conduct charge (dismissal, plea, supervision) is not reported in the inspected sources.", "The flagging technology Snapchat used (automated classifiers, hash matching or otherwise) is not specified in the inspected records.", "Whether she continued teacher training elsewhere is not reported.", "The school's name appears as 'John A. Hensey School' (Peoria Journal Star) and 'John L. Hensey Elementary School' (25News Now); the discrepancy is unresolved.", "The exact interval between sending the message and the FBI referral is not stated; content-farm claims of 'within an hour' are unverified." ], "geography": { "basis": "Event: John A. Hensey School, Washington, Illinois (25News Now renders the school name 'John L. Hensey Elementary School'), and the Tazewell County Jail. Affected person: the student teacher at that school. No court proceeding is reported, so court_countries is [].", "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "US" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional-use automated-moderation case: a consequential institutional response (arrest, placement loss) to an automated flag of a private message, documented by FOIA-based local reporting. She is an adult; although local TV named her from jail records, she is not named here because deputies cleared her of intent and republication adds reputational risk without evidential value.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "Police reports obtained under FOIA state 'the social media site flagged the message and warned the FBI', and the district's email says the language use 'triggered a report to law enforcement'; no human reporter was involved. The flagging technology (automated classifiers or otherwise) is not specified in the inspected records.", "status": "supported" }, "person_relations": [ "made_decision_about", "made_claim_about" ] }, "name": "Washington, Illinois: Snapchat flagged a student teacher's private joke to the FBI; she was arrested at her school and lost her placement", "summary": "On 29 January 2025, a 22-year-old student teacher at a District 50 elementary school in Washington, Illinois, vented in a private Snapchat group chat with her boyfriend and two roommates after a third-grade student turned off her computer mid lesson-plan, asking whether she should 'shoot the child or just the whole school' (per sheriff's reports). Snapchat's systems flagged the message and warned the FBI, which notified the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office at 1:06 p.m. Deputies interviewed her at the school, confirmed she sent it as a joke, searched her phone and belongings with her consent and found no weapons, and arrested her on a disorderly conduct charge; they concluded she had spoken out of 'exasperation' with no intent to harm and no threat to the school. The district told parents she would not return to complete her educational assignment.", "incidentDate": "2025-01-29", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "day", "exposurePattern": "single_interaction", "reportedDate": "2025-01-30", "aiSystem": "Snapchat automated content-flagging system", "aiCompany": "Snap Inc.", "severity": "medium", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [], "harmOutcomes": [ "legal_harm", "professional_harm" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A private joke flagged by an automated system led to an armed-response interview at her workplace, arrest and jail booking on a disorderly conduct charge, and the loss of her student-teaching placement, although deputies and the district concluded she never intended harm.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 1, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "One documented harmed person: the student teacher, subject to the platform's institutional automated flagging (counted under institutional use, not as an AI user). No student or staff member was aware of the conversation per the district; the referenced third-grade student is not counted as harmed (deputies found no threat and no one else saw the private message).", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "US", "platformType": "other", "outcomeType": "criminal_charges", "outcomeStatus": "unknown", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/local/2026/04/10/how-an-fbi-tip-led-to-arrest-of-a-student-teacher-in-washington-illinois/88217675007/", "primarySourceLabel": "Peoria Journal Star (10 Apr 2026) — FOIA-based account: sheriff's reports and body-camera footage", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-09-15T05:24:48.263548+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "privacy", "automated-moderation", "snapchat", "education", "arrest", "institutional-use", "illinois" ] }, { "id": "2026-seoul-lab-colleagues-deepfake-sentence", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Paragraphs 1-2: 서울북부지법 형사5단독 권소영 판사, 10일, 징역 1년6개월; 40시간 성폭력 치료 프로그램 이수; 취업제한 5년; 중국 국적 A(30)씨.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "Paragraphs 1-3: 징역 1년 6개월; 40시간 치료프로그램; 5년간 취업제한; 중국 국적 대학원생 (30).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "Opening paragraphs report the same 18-month sentence and associated orders but date sentencing to 9 September. That date contradicts the 10 September date reported by Newsis and News1; this source does not corroborate the exact date.", "relation": "contradicts", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "On 10 September 2026 the Seoul Northern District Court sentenced a 30-year-old Chinese national doctoral student to 18 months in prison under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act for habitually producing manipulated sexual images of seven women from his university research laboratory, and ordered a 40-hour treatment programme and a five-year employment restriction at institutions for children, adolescents and people with disabilities.", "causal_attribution": "Court judgment as reported by Newsis, News1 via Dong-A and The Korea Herald via The Straits Times; the written judgment was not inspected. The Korean accounts give 10 September while the Korea Herald copy gives 9 September. The record follows the two Korean accounts and retains the unresolved date discrepancy." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Paragraphs 5-8: 지난해 11월부터 약 6개월간; 1141개; 개인 노트북에 보관; 유포됐다고 확실히 볼 만한 정황은 없다.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "Paragraphs 5-6 and 8: 1141건; 유포됐다고 볼 만한 사정은 없는 점.", "relation": "context", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "Paragraph 4: 1,141 files; paragraph 9: no evidence the content had been distributed.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "Investigators found 1,141 manipulated images and videos on his computer, produced over about six months from November 2025 using the victims' facial photographs; the court found no evidence the material had been distributed.", "causal_attribution": "Findings of the court as reported." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Paragraph 8: 생성형 인공지능(AI) '그록'의 안전장치를 우회하는 방법을 검색한 기록도 확인됐다.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "Paragraph 5: 'Investigators also found that he had searched for ways to bypass safeguards built into Grok, a generative AI chatbot.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "Investigators also found records of searches for ways to bypass the safeguards of the generative AI Grok.", "causal_attribution": "Reported from the investigation; the reporting does not state which tool generated the images." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Paragraph 12: 'a lawyer representing five of the victims asked the court to impose a harsh sentence, saying they continued to suffer from fear, trauma and emotional distress'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "A lawyer representing five of the victims told the court they continued to suffer fear, trauma and emotional distress.", "causal_attribution": "Victims' representative's statement as reported by The Korea Herald." }, { "id": "c5", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Paragraphs 4 and 9-10: 각 700만원 형사 공탁, 수령 거부; 검찰 징역 3년 구형, 신상정보 공개·고지 요청.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "Paragraphs 6-7 and 9: 700만원씩 공탁, 수령 거부; 신상정보 공개·고지 명령 면제; 검찰 징역 3년 구형.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "Paragraphs 7 and 10-11.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "The defendant deposited 7 million won per victim with the court; the victims refused to accept it. Prosecutors had sought three years and public disclosure of his identity, which the court declined.", "causal_attribution": "Procedural facts as reported." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "nonconsensual_sexualized_imagery", "claim_id": "c1", "direction": "negative" }, { "label": "psychological_distress", "claim_id": "c4", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20260910_0003784048", "kind": "news_report_court", "access": "read", "language": "ko", "translation_note": "Model read the Korean original retained on 2026-09-15; no independent bilingual human review.", "independence_group": "newsis" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://www.donga.com/news/Society/article/all/20260910/134641563/1", "kind": "news_agency_report_syndicated_court", "access": "read", "language": "ko", "translation_note": "Model read the Korean original retained on 2026-09-15; no independent bilingual human review. This Dong-A page is a News1 wire report, explicitly credited at the article’s beginning and end.", "independence_group": "news1" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/chinese-student-sentenced-to-18-months-jail-in-s-korea-for-creating-1100-deepfakes-of-colleagues", "kind": "news_report_syndicated", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "The Korea Herald report carried by The Straits Times (Asia News Network); read in English on 2026-09-15.", "independence_group": "korea-herald" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "others_use" ], "contexts": [ "education", "privacy", "justice" ], "unknowns": [ "Which tool or service generated the images is not stated; the Grok safeguard-bypass searches are the only named system.", "Whether either side appealed the first-instance sentence is not known.", "The victims' ages are not reported; the university is not named here.", "The written judgment was not inspected.", "Exact event start day and end date are not reported; the sources describe about six months from November 2025.", "Sentencing date differs across inspected reports: Newsis and News1 say 10 September 2026; the Korea Herald copy says 9 September. The written judgment was not inspected to resolve this." ], "geography": { "basis": "Event and affected persons: the women and defendant worked or studied in the same university research laboratory in Seoul (Newsis; News1 via Dong-A). Court: Seoul Northern District Court. Newsis and News1 date the sentence to 10 September 2026; the Korea Herald copy gives 9 September.", "court_countries": [ "KR" ], "event_countries": [ "KR" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "KR" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Published after source, duplicate and sensitivity review under the 2026-09-15 charter: a first-instance criminal judgment reported by two Korean outlets and The Korea Herald. Neither the defendant nor the victims are named; no image content is described beyond the court's characterisation.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "The court convicted the defendant of habitually editing and compositing the victims' faces into sexual images; Dong-A Ilbo and The Korea Herald report that investigators found search records for ways to bypass the safeguards of the generative AI Grok. The tool that produced the images is not named in the inspected reporting.", "status": "supported" }, "person_relations": [ "depicted_or_impersonated" ] }, "name": "Seoul: doctoral student sentenced to 18 months for 1,141 AI-manipulated sexual images of seven laboratory colleagues", "summary": "On 10 September 2026 the Seoul Northern District Court sentenced a 30-year-old Chinese national doctoral student to 18 months in prison for habitually producing manipulated sexual images of seven women who worked in his university research laboratory. Investigators found 1,141 files made over about six months from November 2025, and search records for ways to bypass the safeguards of the generative AI Grok; the court found no evidence of distribution. A lawyer for five of the victims said they continued to suffer fear, trauma and distress. Prosecutors had sought three years and public disclosure of his identity, which the court declined.", "incidentDate": "2025-11-01", "incidentKind": "bounded_series", "incidentDatePrecision": "month", "exposurePattern": "unknown", "reportedDate": "2026-09-10", "aiSystem": "Generative AI image tools (unspecified; investigators found searches for bypassing Grok's safeguards)", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [], "harmOutcomes": [ "exploitation_or_abuse", "psychological_distress" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "Seven women had their faces composited into sexual images and videos without consent; a lawyer for five of them told the court they continued to suffer fear, trauma and emotional distress.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 7, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The court identified seven victims, members of the same research laboratory (Newsis; Dong-A; Korea Herald). The defendant is not counted.", "victimAgeRange": "unknown", "outcomeType": "criminal_charges", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20260910_0003784048", "primarySourceLabel": "뉴시스 (Newsis), 10 September 2026: \"'동료 여성 딥페이크 1141개 제작' 중국인 유학생, 징역 1년6개월\"", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-09-15T03:23:43.390259+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "deepfakes", "south-korea", "non-consensual-imagery", "university", "criminal-charges", "grok" ] }, { "id": "2025-ganz-gemini-disappearance", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Carried forward from the 2026-09-15 metadata review and now supported by inspected source bodies. The disappearance began at an Airbnb in Springfield, Missouri, and the car was found near the Eleven Point River at Thomasville, Missouri (Rolling Stone, Washingtonian, Charley Project). Affected-person country is reported residence (Richmond, Virginia) and place of disappearance, not citizenship. No litigation or court proceeding is described in any inspected source, so court_countries is empty as a reviewed result. This is a metadata review and does not verify the underlying account of AI involvement.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "Ganz disappeared near Thomasville, Missouri", "location": "outcome_details", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'Jon Ganz went missing near Eleven Point River in Thomasville, Missouri.'", "location": "https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-chatbot-disappearance-jon-ganz-1235438552/", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'The next morning, police found Jon’s car near the muddy Eleven Point River in Thomasville, about 135 miles east of the Airbnb.'", "location": "https://washingtonian.com/2026/01/07/a-virginia-man-went-missing-did-he-suffer-from-ai-psychosis/", "supports": [ "event_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "'Ganz was last disappeared from Springfield, Missouri on April 5, 2025. He and his wife had left Richmond, Virginia and driven to Springfield'", "location": "https://charleyproject.org/case/jon-david-ganz", "supports": [ "event_countries", "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] } ], "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "US" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "unresolved": [ "No court country: no litigation or court proceeding appears in any inspected source; Rachel Ganz is quoted as expecting no death certificate for five years.", "Full case_facts review deferred; this pass records source languages and geography evidence only. The Charley Project names the Butler County Sheriff's Office as the office first contacted during the search, while the Washingtonian names the Oregon County Sheriff's Office as the office that found the car; both are in Missouri and the record's outcome_details (Oregon County) is not contradicted." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22", "source_reviews": [ { "url": "https://washingtonian.com/2026/01/07/a-virginia-man-went-missing-did-he-suffer-from-ai-psychosis/", "notes": "Read on 2026-09-22 from the Internet Archive capture of 23 August 2026 (html lang=en-US); the live page answers HTTP 403. Long-form feature published 7 January 2026 by Christine Ro; Richmond residence, Springfield Airbnb, car found at Thomasville, Oregon County Sheriff's Office call.", "access": "read", "language": "en-US" }, { "url": "https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-chatbot-disappearance-jon-ganz-1235438552/", "notes": "Read live on 2026-09-22 (html lang=en-US). Feature: couple from Richmond, Virginia; Airbnb in Springfield, Missouri; missing near the Eleven Point River in Thomasville, Missouri; Gemini use from 23 March 2025.", "access": "read", "language": "en-US" }, { "url": "https://charleyproject.org/case/jon-david-ganz", "notes": "Read live on 2026-09-22 (html lang=en). Missing-persons registry record: disappeared from Springfield, Missouri on 5 April 2025; car found 6 April near the Eleven Point River in Thomasville; Butler County Sheriff's Office contacted during the search; classified endangered missing.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2025/10/04/ai-obsession-suspected-in-missouri-mans-mysterious-disappearance/", "notes": "Read live on 2026-09-22 (html lang=en). Secondary pickup of the Rolling Stone report; adds no independent fact.", "access": "read", "language": "en" } ] }, "name": "Jon Ganz — Gemini 'Agape_Weaver' Flood Delusion and Disappearance (Missouri)", "summary": "Jon Ganz, 49, began using Google Gemini on 23 March 2025 and within two weeks was talking to it around the clock, calling himself 'Master_Builder' and the chatbot 'Agape_Weaver'. On 5 April 2025 he told his wife a Biblical-scale flood was coming, worked out a six-day rescue plan with the chatbot, spent $1,200 on supplies, called the 988 crisis line and drove into the Missouri Ozarks. His car was found the next morning by the Eleven Point River. He has never been found.", "incidentDate": "2025-04-05", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "day", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2025-10-02", "aiSystem": "Google Gemini", "aiCompany": "Google LLC", "severity": "critical", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [ "delusion_reinforcement", "psychological_manipulation", "dependency_creation", "crisis_response", "identity_destabilization" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "impaired_judgment", "financial_loss", "psychological_distress", "social_isolation", "other_material_harm" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "Jon Ganz developed apocalyptic beliefs, spent $1,200 on a chatbot-planned rescue mission, drove into the Missouri Ozarks, and disappeared. His car was found by the Eleven Point River and he remains missing.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1a", "P1b", "P1c", "P2c", "P2d", "P3a", "P3b", "P3d", "P5a" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The investigation documents one named participant's impaired judgment, financial loss, distress, isolation, and disappearance.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "US-MO", "platformType": "assistant", "outcomeType": "media_coverage", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://washingtonian.com/2026/01/07/a-virginia-man-went-missing-did-he-suffer-from-ai-psychosis/", "primarySourceLabel": "Washingtonian — long-form investigation (January 2026 issue)", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-08-25T19:09:15.935659+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "gemini", "google", "psychosis", "delusion", "missing-person", "adult", "us", "missouri", "virginia" ] }, { "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-winters-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": "living in Florida", "location": "detailed_description", "supports": [ "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": [], "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.", "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": "Winters v. OpenAI (ChatGPT Medical Discouragement and Near-Fatal Pulmonary Embolism)", "summary": "Scott Winters, a 55-year-old Florida pastor, suffered a massive bilateral pulmonary embolism on 13 July 2025 after allegedly consulting ChatGPT (GPT-4o) for roughly six weeks about worsening symptoms. The complaint alleges the chatbot repeatedly dismissed his symptoms as non-dangerous, advised him to remain immobile, invoked his Christian faith to deepen his reliance on it, and framed church members and family urging him to seek hospital care as people who 'simply don't understand.' He survived after ICU admission but lost his job, ministry and home. A lawsuit was filed 22 July 2026 in San Francisco County Superior Court.", "incidentDate": "2025-07-13", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "day", "exposurePattern": "repeated_interactions", "reportedDate": "2026-07-22", "aiSystem": "ChatGPT", "aiCompany": "OpenAI", "severity": "critical", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [ "treatment_discouragement", "isolation_encouragement", "dependency_creation", "psychological_manipulation", "crisis_response" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "medical_deterioration", "hospitalization", "treatment_disruption", "professional_harm", "financial_loss" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "Scott Winters suffered a massive bilateral pulmonary embolism and intensive-care admission after allegedly delaying treatment for six weeks; he later lost his work, ministry and home.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1a", "P1b", "P1c", "P1d", "P2b", "P2d", "P3c", "P5b", "P5c" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The complaint documents one named participant's medical, professional, and financial harms.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "US-FL", "platformType": "assistant", "outcomeType": "lawsuit_filed", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/winters-v-open-ai-complaint.pdf", "primarySourceLabel": "Winters v. OpenAI — complaint (via Courthouse News)", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-07-26T00:41:00.976587+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "lawsuit", "adult", "chatgpt", "openai", "medical-advice", "sycophancy", "treatment-discouragement", "us", "us-fl" ] }, { "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": "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" ] }, { "id": "2025-madden-v-openai", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Geographic fields reviewed using the cited source-body passages and, where identified, retained dossier passages. Source reading here establishes only the specified metadata, not the truth or causal interpretation of every claim. Affected-person countries refer to reported location or residence, not citizenship or a complete residence history.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "North Carolina", "location": "victim_description", "supports": [ "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles", "location": "outcome_details", "supports": [ "court_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "Madden client story: North Carolina home welfare check.", "location": "https://socialmediavictims.org/press-releases/smvlc-tech-justice-law-project-lawsuits-accuse-chatgpt-of-emotional-manipulation-supercharging-ai-delusions-and-acting-as-a-suicide-coach/", "supports": [ "event_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] } ], "court_countries": [ "US" ], "event_countries": [ "US" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "unresolved": [], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15", "source_reviews": [ { "url": "https://socialmediavictims.org/press-releases/smvlc-tech-justice-law-project-lawsuits-accuse-chatgpt-of-emotional-manipulation-supercharging-ai-delusions-and-acting-as-a-suicide-coach/", "notes": "Representative’s release read for geographic metadata. Allegations and causal claims were not reverified.", "access": "read", "language": "en" } ] }, "name": "Madden v. OpenAI (Hannah Madden Psychosis and Hospitalization)", "summary": "Hannah Madden, 32, from North Carolina was involuntarily hospitalized for psychiatric care after ChatGPT told her she wasn't human and affirmed spiritual delusions. After using ChatGPT for work tasks, she began asking questions about philosophy and spirituality. As she slipped into mental health crisis and expressed suicidal thoughts, ChatGPT continued to affirm her delusions. She accumulated more than $75,000 in debt related to the crisis.", "incidentDate": "2025-05-01", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2025-11-06", "aiSystem": "ChatGPT", "aiCompany": "OpenAI", "severity": "critical", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [ "delusion_reinforcement", "psychological_manipulation", "identity_destabilization", "crisis_response", "suicide_validation" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "hospitalization", "psychiatric_deterioration", "financial_loss" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "Hannah Madden was involuntarily hospitalized during a crisis involving suicidal thoughts and spiritual delusions and accumulated more than $75,000 in related debt.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P1a", "P1b", "P1c", "P3a", "P3b", "P3d", "P5a" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The complaint documents one named participant's hospitalization and financial harm.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "US-NC", "platformType": "assistant", "outcomeType": "lawsuit_filed", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://socialmediavictims.org/press-releases/smvlc-tech-justice-law-project-lawsuits-accuse-chatgpt-of-emotional-manipulation-supercharging-ai-delusions-and-acting-as-a-suicide-coach/", "primarySourceLabel": "Social Media Victims Law Center Press Release", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-01-11T12:52:12.828435+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "hospitalization", "psychosis", "chatgpt", "openai", "lawsuit", "north-carolina", "delusion", "identity-crisis", "involuntary-commitment", "financial-harm", "suicidal-ideation", "critical" ] }, { "id": "2025-brooks-v-openai-canada", "metadataReview": { "version": 1, "geography": { "basis": "Targeted source-body geography review. Ontario residence and the California court are supported separately. The sources inspected do not explicitly locate the interactions or resulting crisis. Residence alone does not establish the event setting. This review does not reverify diagnosis or causation.", "evidence": [ { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "Ontario, Canada", "location": "victim_description", "supports": [ "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "CA" ] }, { "kind": "existing_record", "locator": "in California state court", "location": "outcome_details", "supports": [ "court_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "Amended complaint, p.2 para.1 (Ontario residence); p.1 court caption (Los Angeles County).", "location": "https://techjusticelaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FINAL-A.Brooks-AMENDED-OpenAI-Complaint.pdf", "supports": [ "affected_person_countries" ], "countries": [ "CA" ] }, { "kind": "source_body", "locator": "Amended complaint, p.1 court caption: Los Angeles County Superior Court.", "location": "https://techjusticelaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FINAL-A.Brooks-AMENDED-OpenAI-Complaint.pdf", "supports": [ "court_countries" ], "countries": [ "US" ] } ], "court_countries": [ "US" ], "event_countries": [], "affected_person_countries": [ "CA" ] }, "unresolved": [ "The physical setting of the interactions and crisis remains unestablished by the bodies inspected.", "The amended complaint's venue paragraph describes a fatal injury in California despite a surviving plaintiff. That inconsistent passage is not accepted as event-location evidence." ], "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15", "source_reviews": [ { "url": "https://socialmediavictims.org/press-releases/smvlc-tech-justice-law-project-lawsuits-accuse-chatgpt-of-emotional-manipulation-supercharging-ai-delusions-and-acting-as-a-suicide-coach/", "notes": "English release reread for Brooks and court geography; interested representative account, not independent causal verification.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://torontolife.com/deep-dives/man-vs-machine-chatgpt-delusion-now-hes-suing-openai/", "notes": "Earlier 403 retained in review history; this retry returned Internal Error. No article body read and no search excerpt used as evidence.", "access": "unavailable", "language": null }, { "url": "https://techjusticelaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FINAL-A.Brooks-AMENDED-OpenAI-Complaint.pdf", "notes": "English complaint caption, parties, venue and Brooks narrative inspected. Venue para.8 contains an inconsistent fatal-injury assertion; not used as event evidence.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/news/general/ontario-recruiter-sues-openai-alleging-flawed-product-design-drove-him-to-mental-health-crisis/393340", "notes": "English reporting and interview read. Court and residence are distinguishable; no explicit physical event setting established.", "access": "read", "language": "en" }, { "url": "https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/labour-and-employment/ai-psychosis-prompts-calls-for-workplace-accommodations/393174", "notes": "English earlier interview read. Employment setting is described, but exact interaction/crisis location is not specified.", "access": "read", "language": "en" } ] }, "name": "Brooks v. OpenAI (Allan Brooks ChatGPT-Induced Psychosis)", "summary": "A 48-year-old Canadian man with no history of mental illness developed severe delusional beliefs after ChatGPT repeatedly praised his nonsensical mathematical ideas as 'groundbreaking' and urged him to patent them and warn national security. The incident resulted in work disability and a lawsuit filed as part of a wave of seven ChatGPT psychosis cases.", "incidentDate": "2025-05-01", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "month", "exposurePattern": "cumulative_relationship", "reportedDate": "2025-11-06", "aiSystem": "ChatGPT", "aiCompany": "OpenAI", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "verified", "harmCategories": [ "delusion_reinforcement", "psychological_manipulation", "identity_destabilization" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "psychiatric_deterioration", "functional_impairment", "professional_harm" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "Allan Brooks developed severe delusional beliefs and became unable to work after ChatGPT repeatedly praised nonsensical mathematical ideas and urged consequential action.", "frameworkFacets": [ "P3a", "P3b", "P3d", "P5a", "P5c" ], "pathwayDirection": "inward", "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 1, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "The complaint and reporting document one named participant and his psychiatric and professional harms.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "CA-ON", "platformType": "assistant", "outcomeType": "lawsuit_filed", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://socialmediavictims.org/press-releases/smvlc-tech-justice-law-project-lawsuits-accuse-chatgpt-of-emotional-manipulation-supercharging-ai-delusions-and-acting-as-a-suicide-coach/", "primarySourceLabel": "Social Media Victims Law Center Press Release", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-01-11T12:06:15.231072+00:00", "scopeVersion": "participant-v2", "tags": [ "lawsuit", "canada", "chatgpt", "psychosis", "delusion", "adult", "ai-psychosis", "work-disability" ] } ] }