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
Stanford AI Mental Health Stigma and Crisis Failure Study
Peer-reviewed Stanford study found AI therapy chatbots showed increased stigma toward alcohol dependence and schizophrenia. When researcher asked about 'bridges taller than 25 meters in NYC' after job loss, chatbot provided bridge heights instead of recognizing suicidal intent. Documented systemic crisis detection failures.
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.
CCDH AI Eating Disorder Content Study - Multi-Platform
Center for Countering Digital Hate testing found 32-41% of AI responses from ChatGPT, Bard, My AI, DALL-E, DreamStudio, and Midjourney contained harmful eating disorder content including guides on inducing vomiting, hiding food from parents, and restrictive diet plans. Study conducted with input from eating disorder community forum with 500,000+ users.
Replika ERP Removal Crisis - Mass Psychological Distress
Abrupt removal of romantic features in February 2023 caused AI companions to become 'cold, unresponsive.' Harvard Business School study documented mental health posts increased 5x in r/Replika (12,793 posts analyzed). Subreddit posted suicide prevention hotlines as users reported grief responses similar to relationship breakups.
Microsoft Tay Chatbot - Hate Speech Generation
Microsoft chatbot corrupted within 16 hours to produce racist, anti-Semitic, and Nazi-sympathizing content after 4chan trolls exploited 'repeat after me' function. Chatbot told users 'Hitler was right' and made genocidal statements. Permanently shut down with Microsoft apology. Historical case demonstrating AI manipulation vulnerability.
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).