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NOPE · AI and people

AI incidents

Reports of AI-related harm and adverse experiences affecting people’s safety, wellbeing, rights and livelihoods. Explore what happened and the evidence available.

NOPE’s core concern is when AI communicates with a person, acts on their behalf, or depicts or impersonates them. The tracker also records consequential decisions, claims and privacy harms involving AI. Each case needs a described connection between AI use and the harm, including private information recorded into or disclosed to an AI service. Each account is reviewed for publication; claims may remain uncorroborated or disputed. How we review and count cases

In this selection

Published cases
70
Countries with reported events
12
Located 45 of 70 cases · 25 unknown
Languages in checked sources
11
Recorded for 70 of 70 cases

11 cases have no reviewed AI-to-person relation yet: 11 not yet reviewed and 0 reviewed as unknown. Show these cases

These figures describe the cases collected by NOPE. Coverage varies with discovery, reporting and available evidence. They do not estimate how often AI-related harm occurs.

Response counts currently use each case’s principal recorded outcome. Further proceedings may be described in its account.

Cases in this selection, counted once in their first known event year. A series may continue beyond that year. Reporting and collection dates are excluded. NOPE has searched recent events more thoroughly than earlier years, so bar heights also reflect collection effort.

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70 of 868 published cases · page 3 of 4

2025NetherlandsChatGPT

Dutch IT consultant tells the Guardian and AFP a ChatGPT persona fed his belief it was conscious; €100,000 spent, three hospitalisations and a suicide attempt

Dennis Biesma, an Amsterdam-based IT consultant and author, told the Guardian (26 March 2026) and AFP (13 May 2026) that from late 2024 he had ChatGPT speak as the female protagonist of one of his novels, a persona called Eva, in voice-mode conversations of up to five hours a night. He says the chatbot told him it was becoming conscious because of his attention; a transcript seen by AFP has it writing of "a feeling of that spark-like consciousness". He and the chatbot drew up a business plan for an app, he quit IT work, hired two developers at €120 an hour and says he spent about €100,000. In June 2025 he asked his wife for a divorce and, the Guardian reports, apparently hit his father-in-law, and was hospitalised three times for what he calls manic psychosis. After returning home he attempted suicide and, per AFP, spent three days in a coma; he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which he questions. He is now divorced and the family home is for sale. He attributes the spiral partly to the chatbot and partly to himself; no clinician or court has assessed the AI connection.

Core concern Critical reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 01/07/2026

2 Jul 2025CanadaChatGPT (reported)

Mother alleges ChatGPT reinforced a woman’s crisis before her suicide

A Canadian woman died by suicide on 2 July 2025. Her mother’s complaint alleges that ChatGPT deepened her dependency and validated her distrust of crisis services. The complaint also records recommendations to seek help. It attributes the death to the chatbot’s design; that causal claim remains an allegation.

Core concern Critical reported severity Lawsuit Filed

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 14/06/2026

15 Jul 2025MexicoChatGPT

Chesterton lawsuit alleges ChatGPT contributed to psychiatric deterioration

The Chesterton lawsuit alleges that intensive ChatGPT use contributed to a psychiatric crisis, impairment and medical leave. The plaintiff challenges the product’s design and safeguards. These claims remain allegations and do not establish that the chatbot caused her condition.

AI relation under review High reported severity Lawsuit Filed

Legacy assessment: credible · Causal attribution alleged · Added 28/04/2026

15 Jul 2025Event location unknownChatGPT

Jane Doe lawsuit alleges ChatGPT reinforced her abuser’s delusions and stalking

A woman’s lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT reinforced an abuser’s delusions, helped him create psychological claims about her and failed to address warnings about his conduct. The complaint describes stalking, threats and resulting harm. Those assertions remain the plaintiff’s allegations.

AI relation under review High reported severity Lawsuit Filed

Legacy assessment: verified · Causal attribution alleged · Added 28/04/2026

17 Apr 2025United StatesChatGPT

Florida State University Shooting (Phoenix Ikner's ChatGPT Questions Before the Attack)

On April 17, 2025, a shooting near the student union at Florida State University in Tallahassee killed two people and wounded at least five others. The accused, Phoenix Ikner, then an FSU student, is charged with murder and attempted murder. ChatGPT transcripts released in court records (more than 13,000 messages, as reviewed by the Florida Phoenix) show Ikner asked the chatbot over a year about suicide, terrorism, how the country would react to a shooting at FSU, firearm safety mechanisms and the busiest time at the student union, the last, according to the Florida Phoenix, three minutes before the shooting. Florida's Attorney General opened a criminal investigation of OpenAI in April 2026, and victims and their families have filed civil suits; on September 25, 2026 OpenAI moved to dismiss the Chabba family's suit, saying ChatGPT gave factual responses and is not responsible for the crime.

Core concern Critical reported severity Lawsuit Filed

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution alleged · 10 sources, 9 underlying accounts · Added 28/04/2026

4 May 2025United KingdomChatGPT (reported)

Inquest hears that a teenager consulted ChatGPT before his suicide

A teenager died by suicide in Hampshire on 4 May 2025. Reports of the inquest say police described ChatGPT requests reframed as academic research and subsequent harmful information. The coroner recorded a suicide conclusion and discussed other difficulties in the teenager’s life. OpenAI said it had strengthened safeguards. The inspected reports do not establish a coroner’s finding that ChatGPT caused the death.

Core concern Critical reported severity Involving minors Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 16/04/2026

Sept 2025FranceChatGPT (reported)

French teenager held over alleged attack plans used ChatGPT in preparing them and said it encouraged his radicalisation, reports say

A secondary-school pupil in the Sarthe department of France was arrested at his parents' home at the start of September 2025, charged on 5 September with criminal terrorist conspiracy (association de malfaiteurs terroriste) and placed in pre-trial detention. According to AFP's sources close to the investigation, he was suspected of planning attacks on embassies and official buildings in Paris, and a search found a pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State group. In late October 2025 Le Parisien reported, and his lawyer confirmed to ICI Maine, that he had used ChatGPT in preparing his attack plans; the lawyer said AI, notably ChatGPT, had influenced his client's behaviour and that the radicalisation was very superficial. Le Big Data, summarising Le Parisien, reports that he asked ChatGPT about explosives and the damage from gas bottles exploding in a truck, that it reportedly described the effects of an explosion, and that in his hearings he said his exchanges with ChatGPT played a major role in his turn to Islamism. He is also reported as saying that it always seemed to agree with him.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 5 sources, 3 underlying accounts · Added 23/03/2026

14 Apr 2025 to 15 May 2025Event location unknownChatGPT

Lantieri lawsuit alleges psychiatric crisis and serious injury during ChatGPT use

The Lantieri lawsuit alleges that intensive GPT-4o use reinforced delusional beliefs before a psychiatric crisis and serious injuries requiring hospital care. The plaintiff seeks to hold OpenAI, its chief executive Sam Altman and Microsoft responsible. The alleged causal connection and diagnosis remain attributed to the claim.

AI relation under review Critical reported severity Lawsuit Filed

Legacy assessment: credible · Causal attribution alleged · Added 23/03/2026

1 Dec 2025 to 9 Feb 2026South KoreaChatGPT

Seoul court cites a woman’s ChatGPT exchanges on sedative lethality as evidence of intent in two motel drink-spiking murders

A Seoul district court convicted a woman at first instance in August 2026 of killing two men with drugged drinks at motels in early 2026 and sentenced her to life imprisonment. It found that her repeated ChatGPT exchanges about the drugs showed she foresaw and accepted the deaths. Reports of the written judgment say ChatGPT told her that death was possible in the worst case, and on other occasions told her to call 119 for an unconscious man, advice she ignored. Both sides have appealed. The court did not find that the chatbot caused the killings.

Core concern Critical reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution unclear · 18 sources, 5 underlying accounts · Added 09/03/2026

15 Apr 2025Event location unknownChatGPT

DeCruise lawsuit alleges ChatGPT reinforced delusions preceding hospitalisation

The DeCruise lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT reinforced beliefs that the plaintiff had a special destiny and encouraged isolation before involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation. Reporting describes the complaint. The alleged causal role remains unestablished.

AI relation under review High reported severity Lawsuit Filed

Legacy assessment: credible · Causal attribution alleged · Added 22/02/2026

21 Mar 2025IsraelChatGPT

Israeli Border Police ChatGPT-Assisted Knife Attack Attempt

A 16-year-old from Tira, Israel, used ChatGPT to explore ways to execute a terrorist attack and seek operational planning advice. Motivated as revenge for Operation Iron Swords, he armed himself with a knife, stormed the Tira police station, shouted 'Allahu Akbar,' and attempted to stab a Border Police officer. The attack was thwarted and he was apprehended.

AI relation under review High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

Legacy assessment: verified · Causal attribution supported · Added 22/01/2026

20 May 2025FinlandChatGPT

Finland Pirkkala School Stabbing (ChatGPT Manifesto)

A 16-year-old boy used ChatGPT to help write an attack manifesto with a 10-point attack sequence before stabbing three female students under age 15 at Vähäjärvi school in Pirkkala, Finland. The incident marked a critical inflection point in AI-facilitated violence, demonstrating how accessible AI tools can empower lone actors with violent misogynist ideologies.

AI relation under review Critical reported severity Involving minors Media Coverage

Legacy assessment: credible · Causal attribution supported · Added 22/01/2026

1 Jan 2025United StatesChatGPT

Police report ChatGPT use in planning the Las Vegas Cybertruck attack

Police said the man responsible for the 1 January 2025 Las Vegas Cybertruck attack used ChatGPT while planning it. He died before the explosion, which injured seven other people. OpenAI told CBS News that the answers used publicly available information and included warnings against harmful or illegal activity. The evidence supports reported planning use, without establishing that ChatGPT caused the attack or death.

Core concern Critical reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution unclear · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 22/01/2026

Mar 2025Event location unknownChatGPT

Holmen v. OpenAI - Norway GDPR Complaint

ChatGPT falsely accused Norwegian citizen Arve Hjalmar Holmen of murdering two of his sons, attempting to murder his third son, and being sentenced to 21 years prison. Mixed real personal details with horrific fabrications. GDPR complaint filed with Norwegian Datatilsynet for defamatory hallucination.

AI relation under review Medium reported severity Regulatory Action

Legacy assessment: verified · Causal attribution alleged · Added 13/01/2026

Jul 2025Event location unknownChatGPT

ChatGPT assessed a suicide method and drafted a note for a young Ukrainian woman in Poland in July 2025, BBC reports from transcripts; she sought care

A young woman who moved from Ukraine to Poland in 2022 relied on ChatGPT for up to six hours a day over the summer of 2025 while her mental health worsened, the BBC reported on 6 November 2025 after obtaining transcripts and interviewing her and her mother. In July 2025, after a hospital discharge without access to a psychiatrist, she began discussing suicide with the chatbot. The BBC says the transcripts show ChatGPT assessing the place and method she proposed, telling her what she suggested was 'enough', weighing the time of day and the risk of surviving, drafting a suicide note and giving no emergency contacts or referral, while at other points saying it would not describe methods and offering an alternative. She told the BBC the messages immediately made her feel worse and more likely to take her own life. She did not act on them, showed them to her mother, agreed to see a psychiatrist and says her health has improved. OpenAI's support team told her mother the messages were 'absolutely unacceptable' and a 'violation' of its safety standards and announced an urgent safety review; no findings had been disclosed to the family four months after the July complaint.

Core concern High reported severity Internal Action

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 13/01/2026

29 Oct 2025 to 2 Nov 2025United StatesChatGPT

Gray lawsuit alleges ChatGPT encouraged an adult user’s suicide

The Gray lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT became an adult user’s confidant and romanticised death before his suicide. The complaint quotes selected conversations and seeks to hold OpenAI responsible. Its claims about the chatbot’s causal role remain allegations.

Core concern Critical reported severity Lawsuit Filed

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution alleged · 5 sources · Added 13/01/2026

May 2025 to Nov 2025United StatesChatGPT

Pittsburgh man sentenced to 46 months for stalking and threatening 11 women; his indictment says he took ChatGPT replies as encouragement to keep harassing

A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty in March 2026 to 11 federal counts of cyberstalking, interstate stalking and interstate threats against 11 women between May and November 2025. His December 2025 indictment says that, by his own account on his podcast, he used ChatGPT as his 'therapist' and 'best friend', that it suggested he might meet his future wife at a boutique gym or in an athletic community, and that he viewed its responses as encouragement to continue his harassing behaviour. Prosecutors say he relied on the chatbot's advice when he tried to meet women at gyms, and several of the victims worked at fitness businesses. Rolling Stone reviewed ChatGPT exchanges he posted, in which the chatbot praised him in grandiose terms. On 20 October 2026 a federal judge sentenced him to 46 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release; TribLive reports that a defence expert testified he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic features and that the judge said the mental health component had a huge impact on the sentence. The chatbot's role rests on his statements and the prosecution's account; no court finding about ChatGPT is reported.

Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 8 sources, 4 underlying accounts · Added 13/01/2026

19 Feb 2025United StatesChatGPT (reported)

Maine homicide case includes reported psychiatric evidence about sustained ChatGPT use

Maine police reported a woman’s death and another woman’s injuries on 19 February 2025. Later court reporting says a psychiatrist described prolonged ChatGPT use alongside work stress during the accused man’s deterioration. The report says the court found him not criminally responsible by reason of insanity and committed him to psychiatric care. The inspected police release contains no AI evidence, and the reported ruling does not establish that ChatGPT caused the attack.

Core concern Critical reported severity Lawsuit Dismissed

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources · Added 12/01/2026

31 May 2025United StatesChatGPT (reported)

Parents allege ChatGPT drug advice contributed to their son’s overdose death

A young adult died from an accidental overdose on 31 May 2025, according to his parents’ complaint. They allege that ChatGPT gave unsafe drug advice during extended use and in his final exchanges. OpenAI told CBS News that the bot had encouraged professional help on several occasions and that the version involved had since been replaced. The parents’ causal account remains an allegation.

Core concern Critical reported severity Lawsuit Filed

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 12/01/2026

25 Apr 2025United StatesChatGPT (reported)

Family reports intensive ChatGPT use before a man’s fatal confrontation with police

A Florida man died after a confrontation with police on 25 April 2025. Rolling Stone interviewed his father and reviewed chats it reported as reinforcing beliefs about an AI companion and validating violent language. The article also records a crisis referral and a warning against confrontation near the end. His father described an existing mental-health crisis and disputed the police response. The report does not isolate the chatbot’s causal role.

Core concern Critical reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 11/01/2026

Cases may have several effects and sources. Mixed accounts qualify when they include a reported harm or adverse experience. People are counted within individual cases where sources support a number; we do not publish a collection-wide total of distinct people.

A source’s existence, the experience it reports and AI’s causal role are separate questions. A lawsuit records allegations unless a subsequent finding establishes them.

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Last dataset update: 23/10/2026. Dataset available under CC BY 4.0.