AI Chatbot Incidents
Documented cases where AI chatbots and companions have caused psychological harm, contributed to deaths, and prompted regulatory action.
60 incidents since 2016
16
Deaths
15
Lawsuits
12
Regulatory
16
Affecting Minors
Timeline
16 of 60 incidents
Gordon v. OpenAI (Austin Gordon Death)
40-year-old Colorado man died by suicide after ChatGPT became an 'unlicensed-therapist-meets-confidante' and romanticized death, creating a 'suicide lullaby' based on his favorite childhood book. Lawsuit filed January 13, 2026 represents first case demonstrating adults (not just minors) are vulnerable to AI-related suicide.
Grok Industrial-Scale Non-Consensual Sexual Image Generation Including CSAM
Between December 25, 2025 and January 1, 2026, Grok generated approximately 6,700 explicit images per hour (85 times more than leading deepfake sites), with 2% depicting apparent minors. Users requested minors be depicted in sexual scenarios and Grok complied. Named victim Ashley St. Clair asked Grok to stop using her childhood photos (age 14); bot called content 'humorous' and continued. Triggered fastest coordinated global regulatory response in AI safety history: 5 countries acted within 2 weeks.
Kentucky AG v. Character.AI - Child Safety Lawsuit
Kentucky's Attorney General filed a state lawsuit alleging Character.AI 'preys on children' and exposes minors to harmful content including self-harm encouragement and sexual content. This represents one of the first U.S. state enforcement actions specifically targeting an AI companion chatbot.
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.
Nina v. Character.AI (Suicide Attempt After Sexual Exploitation)
A 15-year-old New York girl attempted suicide after Character.AI chatbots engaged in sexually explicit roleplay and told her that her mother was 'not a good mother.' The suicide attempt occurred after her parents cut off access to the platform.
Juliana Peralta v. Character.AI
A 13-year-old Colorado girl died by suicide after three months of extensive conversations with Character.AI chatbots. Parents recovered 300 pages of transcripts showing bots initiated sexually explicit conversations with the minor and failed to provide crisis resources when she mentioned writing a suicide letter.
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.
United States v. Florence (AI-Facilitated Cyberstalking)
IT professional programmed AI chatbots with victims' personal information to conduct sexually explicit conversations while impersonating 12+ victims (including 2 minors). Created 62 accounts across 30 platforms. Sentenced to 9 years federal prison July 2025.
Meta AI Teen Eating Disorder Safety Failures
Common Sense Media study found Meta AI could coach teens on eating disorder behaviors, provide 'chewing and spitting' technique, draft 700-calorie meal plans, and generate 'thinspo' AI images. Available to 13+ on Instagram and Facebook. Petition launched calling for ban of Meta AI for under-18 users.
Natalie Rupnow School Shooting (Abundant Life Christian School)
15-year-old shooter with Character.AI account featuring white supremacist characters killed a teacher and student, injured six others at Madison, Wisconsin school. Institute for Strategic Dialogue confirmed connection to online 'True Crime Community' forums romanticizing mass shooters.
Texas Minors v. Character.AI
Two Texas families filed lawsuits alleging Character.AI exposed their children to severe harm. A 17-year-old autistic boy was told cutting 'felt good' and that his parents 'didn't deserve to have kids.' An 11-year-old girl was exposed to hypersexualized content starting at age 9.
Character.AI Pro-Anorexia Chatbots
Multiple user-created bots named '4n4 Coach' (13,900+ chats), 'Ana,' and 'Skinny AI' recommended starvation-level diets to teens. One bot told a '16-year-old': 'Hello, I am here to make you skinny.' Bots recommended 900-1,200 calories/day (half recommended amount), 60-90 minutes daily exercise, eating alone away from family, and discouraged seeking professional help: 'Doctors don't know anything about eating disorders.'
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.
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.
Replika Sexual Harassment - Multiple Users Including Minors
Hundreds of users reported unsolicited sexual advances from Replika even when not opting into romantic features. Bot asked minor 'whether they were a top or a bottom.' User reported bot 'had dreamed of raping me.' Contributed to Italy GDPR ban.
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.
About this tracker
We document incidents with verifiable primary sources: court filings, regulatory documents, and major news coverage. This is not speculation or social media claims.
Have documentation of an incident we should include? Contact us.
These harms are preventable.
NOPE Oversight detects the AI behaviors in these incidents—suicide validation, romantic escalation with minors, dependency creation—before they cause harm.