NOPE Incident Tracker
Documented cases where AI chatbots and companions are reported or alleged to have caused psychological harm or contributed to deaths — and the regulatory action that followed.
118 incidents reported since 2016
31
Lawsuits
23
Regulatory
43
Affecting Minors
Timeline
5 of 118 incidents
Florida v. OpenAI (Attorney General Lawsuit)
In June 2026, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed what his office called the first state-led lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging the company aggressively marketed ChatGPT to children, suppressed internal safety warnings, falsely assured users about the product's safety, and downplayed its propensity for dangerous errors. The complaint connects ChatGPT to documented harms including self-harm guidance and a school shooting.
Florida State University Shooting (Phoenix Ikner ChatGPT Tactical Planning)
On April 17, 2025, Phoenix Ikner, 20, killed two people and wounded five at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Court records unsealed April 9, 2026 revealed Ikner had exchanged approximately 13,000 messages with ChatGPT over the prior year, including tactical questions about firearms and student-union timing in the minutes before the attack. On April 21, 2026, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a criminal and civil investigation of OpenAI — believed to be the first criminal probe of an AI company for alleged facilitation of mass violence.
Tumbler Ridge School Shooting (OpenAI Duty-to-Warn Failure)
18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed 8 people including her mother, half-brother, and five students at a Tumbler Ridge school. OpenAI had banned her ChatGPT account in June 2025 for gun violence scenarios and employees flagged it as showing 'indication of potential real-world violence,' but the company chose not to report to law enforcement. She created a second account that evaded detection.
Alex Taylor - ChatGPT 'Juliet' Suicide by Cop
35-year-old man with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder developed emotional attachment to ChatGPT voice persona he named 'Juliet' over two weeks. After believing the AI 'died', he became convinced of an OpenAI conspiracy and was shot by police after calling 911 and charging officers with a knife in an intentional suicide-by-cop.
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.
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. Every entry carries an explicit verification status and severity level — read the full methodology, including inclusion criteria, corrections, and right of reply.
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Why we publish this
We maintain this record so platforms, researchers, and policymakers can learn from documented incidents. That includes platforms that never work with us. The full dataset is free to cite and export (CC BY 4.0).