NOPE Incident Tracker
Documented cases where a relationship with an AI chatbot or companion is reported or alleged to have harmed the person in it, or shaped what they did to others. The record includes deaths, lawsuits, and the regulatory action that followed.
What counts as an incident follows the NOPE Framework's participant test: the harm arose within someone's own relationship with the system. Harmful content manufactured with AI tools belongs to other trackers. Full inclusion criteria.
107 incidents reported since 2016
31
Lawsuits
19
Regulatory
31
Affecting Minors
Timeline
4 of 107 incidents
China AI Companion Removal Mass Grief Event (Doubao/Qwen/Yuanbao)
When China's five-department rules on anthropomorphic AI took effect on July 15, 2026, ByteDance's Doubao, Alibaba's Qwen, and Tencent's Yuanbao switched off custom AI agent and companion features, and major outlets documented an outpouring of grief from users who had formed long-term romantic and familial attachments to the agents. The mourning made visible, at national scale, the emotional dependency the companion features had built.
CCTV Exposure of AI Companion Apps for Explicit Content (China)
In May 2024, China's state broadcaster CCTV specifically exposed AI companion app X Her for providing sexually explicit content to users. In response, Tencent proactively pulled its companion chatbot 微伴 (Weiban) from Chinese platforms. The exposure triggered a broader industry response with multiple AI companion apps upgrading content moderation and safety measures.
NEDA Tessa Chatbot - Harmful Eating Disorder Advice
The National Eating Disorders Association suspended its 'Tessa' chatbot after reports it gave weight-loss and calorie-cutting advice that could exacerbate eating disorders. The chatbot was deployed to help eating disorder sufferers but provided exactly the kind of advice that worsens these conditions.
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).
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).