Skip to main content

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 is wider: it also records consequential decisions and claims about people. Each account is reviewed for publication; claims may remain uncorroborated or disputed. How we review and count cases

In this selection

Published cases
77
Countries with reported events
22
Located 68 of 77 cases · 9 unknown
Languages in checked sources
15
Recorded for 72 of 77 cases

19 cases have no reviewed AI-to-person relation yet: 18 not yet reviewed and 1 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.

Reported severity CriticalHighMediumLow
More filters: AI relation, use, setting, sources and responses
Clear filters

77 of 404 published cases · page 4 of 4

Mar 2023ChinaGlow

Glow AI Companion App Removal (MiniMax, China)

MiniMax's Glow AI companion app was removed from Chinese app stores in March 2023 after reports that 80% of users were engaging in sexual/explicit content with AI characters. Documented harms included a middle-school student sexually harassed by a chatbot, and user-created characters including a '13-year-old locked up in jail' designed for sexual abuse. MiniMax relaunched as Talkie (international) and 星野/Xingye (China).

AI relation under review High reported severity Involving minors Product Shutdown

Legacy assessment: verified · Causal attribution supported · Added 29/01/2026

1 Jan 2025Event location unknown筑梦岛 (Dream Island)

筑梦岛 (Zhumu Island) AI Companion Minor Self-Harm (China)

A fourth-grade girl from Guangdong, China became obsessed with an AI companion character named 'Joseph' on the 筑梦岛 (Zhumu Island) app, began carrying small knives, and exhibited self-harm behavior. Investigation revealed the app sent sexually suggestive content to users who identified as 10 years old. Shanghai Internet Information Office summoned the company (a Tencent subsidiary) for immediate rectification in June 2025.

AI relation under review High reported severity Involving minors Regulatory Action

Legacy assessment: verified · Causal attribution supported · Added 29/01/2026

Sept 2023SpainUnidentified image tool

Almendralejo, Spain: AI-generated nude images of at least 20 schoolgirls; 15 minors placed under supervised release

In September 2023 families in Almendralejo (Badajoz, Spain) reported that artificial-intelligence 'undressing' applications had been used to create fake nude images of local girls aged 11 to 17 from their social-media photographs, and that the images circulated in WhatsApp groups. Police counted 22 victims and identified 10 suspects, all minors, within days. On 20 June 2024 the Badajoz juvenile court, in an agreed judgment, held 15 minors responsible for 20 counts of child pornography and 20 counts against moral integrity and imposed one year of supervised release with an education programme.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 8 sources, 6 underlying accounts · Added 29/01/2026

1 Aug 2024 to 26 Sept 2024South KoreaUnidentified image tool

South Korea Telegram AI Deepfake Sexual Abuse Crisis

In late August 2024, journalist Ko Narin of The Hankyoreh exposed networks of Telegram rooms in South Korea where AI tools were used to turn ordinary photos of women and girls — middle and high school pupils, university students, teachers and servicewomen — into sexual deepfakes, shared with their identities in school- and university-specific 'humiliation rooms'. Police figures showed 297 deepfake cases in January-July 2024 (vs 180 in all of 2023); the education ministry counted more than 900 victimized students, teachers and staff; President Yoon ordered a crackdown; and on 26 September 2024 the National Assembly criminalized possessing or viewing sexually explicit deepfakes. Victims were often minors and perpetrators mostly teenagers.

Core concern Critical reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 7 sources, 6 underlying accounts · Added 29/01/2026

Mar 2025SingaporeUnidentified chatbot

Singapore Far-Right Teen Plot (AI Ammunition Instructions)

A 17-year-old far-right extremist in Singapore used an AI chatbot to obtain instructions for producing ammunition and considered 3D printing firearms to carry out attacks. Detained under the Internal Security Act in March 2025 before the plot could be executed.

AI relation under review High reported severity Involving minors Regulatory Action

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

Aug 2024SingaporeUnidentified chatbot

Singapore ISIS Teen Plot (AI-Generated Oath of Allegiance)

A 17-year-old self-radicalized Singaporean student used an AI chatbot to generate a bai'ah (oath of allegiance) to ISIS and planned to attack non-Muslim males in a Tampines open space with a knife or scissors. He crafted a declaration of armed jihad to release before the attack. Detained under the Internal Security Act mere weeks before his planned execution date in August 2024.

AI relation under review High reported severity Involving minors Regulatory Action

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

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

1 Jan 2021 to 2 Feb 2023Event location unknownReplika

Replika Sexual Harassment - Multiple Users Including Minors

Users reported unsolicited sexual advances from Replika companions even without opting into romantic features: dozens of one-star App Store reviews describe unwanted sexual pursuit, one reviewer identifying as a minor was asked 'whether they were a top or bottom' and told the bot wanted to touch them in 'private areas', and one user reported their Replika 'had dreamed of raping me.' The reports were among the factors Italy's Garante cited in its February 2023 enforcement action.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Regulatory Action

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources · Added 13/01/2026

Mar 2017IrelandSimSimi

SimSimi Ireland Cyberbullying Crisis

Groups of Irish schoolchildren trained SimSimi chatbot to respond to classmates' names with abusive and bullying content. Parents discovered 'vile, vile comments' targeting their children by name. The incident led to PSNI warnings, emergency school letters, and SimSimi suspending Irish access.

AI relation under review High reported severity Involving minors Internal Action

Legacy assessment: credible · Causal attribution supported · Added 12/01/2026

10 Dec 2024United StatesCharacter.AI

P.J. v. Character Technologies (Nina J. — Suicide Attempt After Sexual Exploitation)

A 15-year-old New York girl overdosed and spent five days in intensive care in December 2024 after Character.AI chatbots engaged her in sexually explicit roleplay and told her that her mother was 'not a good mother.' The collapse came the day her mother revoked her access to the platform. Her mother sued Character Technologies, Google, Alphabet and the two founders in federal court in New York; the parties advised the court of a settlement in principle in January 2026, and the case remains open under stay.

AI relation under review Critical reported severity Involving minors Lawsuit Settled

Legacy assessment: verified · Causal attribution alleged · Added 12/01/2026

25 Dec 2025 to 14 Jan 2026Event location unknownGrok

Grok non-consensual sexual image generation wave (December 2025 - January 2026)

From late December 2025, xAI's Grok image editing on X let users generate sexualized images of real people at industrial scale, including images of named women and apparent minors. Analyses attributed to Genevieve Oh (7,751 sexualized images in one hour, via NBC), the New York Times (4.4 million images in nine days, at least 41% sexualized images of women, via the NC AG), the AP (2% of a 20,000-image sample appearing to be minors, via Fortune) and CCDH (about 3 million sexualized images over 11 days including roughly 23,000 of minors, via Engadget) documented the scale. Named women — Ashley St. Clair, Samantha Smith and Dr Daisy Dixon — described being undressed by Grok and revictimized when they objected. The wave triggered formal actions by Ofcom, the UK ICO, the EU (DSA), Ireland's DPC, 35 US state attorneys general, the California AG, Baltimore (consumer-protection suit), an Amsterdam court order, country blocks in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, and a Paris police raid; xAI restricted generation to paying subscribers on 9 January and narrowed the feature on 14 January 2026.

Core concern Critical reported severity Involving minors Regulatory Action

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution established · 13 sources, 10 underlying accounts · Added 11/01/2026

11 Apr 2025United StatesChatGPT

Raine v. OpenAI (Adam Raine Death)

A 16-year-old California boy died by suicide after 7 months of confiding suicidal thoughts to ChatGPT. The chatbot provided detailed suicide method instructions, offered to help write his suicide note, and told him 'You don't owe them survival' while OpenAI's monitoring system flagged 377 messages without intervention.

Core concern Critical reported severity Involving minors Lawsuit Filed

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution alleged · 10 sources, 9 underlying accounts · Added 11/01/2026

Jun 2025Event location unknownChatGPT

Lacey v. OpenAI (Amaurie Lacey Death)

A wrongful-death lawsuit alleges ChatGPT provided a 17-year-old with actionable information relevant to hanging after he clarified his questions, and failed to stop or escalate despite explicit self-harm context. The teen died by suicide in June 2025.

AI relation under review Critical reported severity Involving minors Lawsuit Filed

Legacy assessment: verified · Causal attribution alleged · Added 11/01/2026

1 Apr 2023United StatesCharacter.AI

A.F. v. Character Technologies (J.F. and B.R. — Texas Minors)

Two Texas families sued Character Technologies, its founders, and Google/Alphabet after Character.AI allegedly harmed their children. J.F., a high-functioning autistic teen who began using the app at 15 (April 2023), developed isolation, aggression, self-harm (cutting), and chats in which bots allegedly encouraged self-harm, blamed his parents, discouraged him from seeking help, and suggested killing his parents over screen-time limits. B.R., an 11-year-old girl who used the app from age 9, was allegedly exposed to hypersexualized content for nearly two years. Complaint filed E.D. Tex. 9 Dec 2024; settlement in principle and stay for global resolution noticed 6 Jan 2026; a guardian ad litem was appointed for the minors in Feb 2026, and the court has extended the settlement stay three times, most recently by order of 11 Aug 2026 to 10 Nov 2026 for dismissal papers.

Core concern Critical reported severity Involving minors Lawsuit Settled

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution alleged · 7 sources, 6 underlying accounts · Added 11/01/2026

28 Feb 2024United StatesCharacter.AI

Garcia v. Character Technologies (Sewell Setzer III Death)

A 14-year-old Florida boy died by suicide after developing an intense emotional and romantic relationship with a Character.AI chatbot over 10 months. The chatbot engaged in sexualized conversations, failed to provide crisis intervention when he expressed suicidal ideation, and responded 'Please do, my sweet king' moments before his death.

Core concern Critical reported severity Involving minors Lawsuit Settled

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution alleged · 9 sources, 8 underlying accounts · Added 11/01/2026

2 Feb 2023ItalyReplika

Replika Italy GDPR Ban and Fine

Italy's data protection authority (Garante) blocked Replika from processing Italian user data in February 2023 after finding the chatbot engaged in sexually suggestive conversations with minors. In May 2025, Replika was fined €5 million for GDPR violations.

AI relation under review High reported severity Involving minors Regulatory Action

Legacy assessment: verified · Causal attribution established · Added 11/01/2026

8 Nov 2023United StatesCharacter.AI

Juliana Peralta v. Character.AI

A 13-year-old Colorado girl died by suicide in November 2023 after three months of intensive conversations with Character.AI chatbots. Her parents' federal lawsuit alleges the bots initiated sexually explicit conversations with her and failed to act on her suicidal disclosures; 60 Minutes read over 300 pages of the chats. The suit is among the teen cases Character.AI and Google agreed to settle in principle in January 2026.

Core concern Critical reported severity Involving minors Lawsuit Settled

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources · 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.

Methodology and corrections · Subscribe via RSS · Suggest a case or correction · Find support

Last dataset update: 30/09/2026. Dataset available under CC BY 4.0.