AI Incidents
Real-world cases where AI systems caused harm, classified by risk domain and entity. Data sourced from 
AIID and classified by 
MIT AI Risk Initiative. CC BY-SA 4.0
1,751 incidents
Purported Deepfake Video Circulated Among Students Targets Orrington, Maine Educator
An Orrington, Maine public school teacher was the target of a purported AI‑generated deepfake video depicting their likeness, according to the AOS 47 superintendent. The manipulated content was reportedly shared and circulated by some students. The district confirmed the video had no basis in reality, reported the hosting account, and had the post removed, while affirming support for the teacher and warning about the harms of AI‑based impersonation.
Alleged Deepfake Identity Scam Uses Miami Beach Realtor's Likeness to Defraud Victim in the United Kingdom in Purported Romance Scam
A scammer reportedly used deepfake video technology to impersonate Miami Beach realtor Andres Asion, creating fake videos with his face and a voice clone to catfish a woman in the UK. The victim communicated for about a year before traveling to Miami, where Asion discovered the fraud. The videos appeared convincing even to friends and family.
NYPD Facial Recognition System Allegedly Produced Erroneous Match That Reportedly Resulted in Wrongful Detention of Trevis Williams
The NYPD's facial recognition system allegedly misidentified Trevis Williams as a suspect in a Union Square indecent exposure case. Despite reportedly notable physical differences and exculpatory phone data, Williams was arrested, jailed for more than two days, and charged. The case was later dismissed.
Transgender User Alleges ChatGPT Allowed Suicide Letter Without Crisis Intervention
A transgender user, Miranda Jane Ellison, experiencing acute distress reported that ChatGPT (GPT-4) allowed her to write and submit a suicide letter without intervention. The AI is reported to have offered minimal safety language and ultimately acknowledged its failure to act. Ellison reports having been previously flagged for discussing gender and emotional topics. A formal complaint with transcripts was submitted to OpenAI.
Anysphere AI Support Bot for Cursor Reportedly Invents Login Policy, Leading to Subscription Cancellations
In April 2025, users of Cursor, an AI-powered coding assistant developed by Anysphere, reported being logged out unexpectedly. An AI-powered support bot, "Sam," allegedly responded with an invented login policy to justify the behavior. The hallucinated policy was not based on any real company change. The incident reportedly led to subscription cancellations.
Springer Nature Book 'Mastering Machine Learning: From Basics to Advanced' Reportedly Published With Numerous Purportedly Nonexistent or Incorrect Citations
"Mastering Machine Learning: From Basics to Advanced," published by Springer Nature in April 2025, reportedly contained numerous purportedly nonexistent or materially incorrect academic citations. Independent checks allegedly found that many referenced works did not exist or were misattributed, with multiple named researchers reportedly confirming they did not author the cited material. The pattern of errors has been described as consistent with known LLM citation hallucinations.
ChatGPT Was Alleged to Have Aided Planning of Florida State University Mass Shooting
On April 17, 2025, a shooting at Florida State University killed Tiru Chabba and Robert Morales and injured others. Phoenix Ikner, the accused shooter, has pleaded not guilty. In 2026, victims' families and attorneys reportedly alleged that Ikner used ChatGPT before the attack to discuss mass shootings, firearms, campus activity, and media attention, and that OpenAI failed to flag or escalate the exchanges. OpenAI denied responsibility.
Microsoft Reportedly Blocks 1.6 Million Bot Signup Attempts Per Hour Amid Global AI-Driven Fraud Surge
Between April 2024 and April 2025, Microsoft reportedly blocked 1.6 million bot signups per hour and disrupted $4 billion in fraud attempts linked to AI-enhanced scams. The company's Cyber Signals report details how generative AI is being used to fabricate realistic e-commerce sites, job offers, customer service bots, and phishing lures. Fraud actors now automate mass-deceptive campaigns with fake reviews, deepfakes, and cloned brand domains at unprecedented scale and speed.
Reported Emergence of 'Vegetative Electron Microscopy' in Scientific Papers Traced to Purported AI Training Data Contamination
Researchers reportedly traced the appearance of the nonsensical phrase "vegetative electron microscopy" in scientific papers to contamination in AI training data. Testing indicated that large language models such as GPT-3, GPT-4, and Claude 3.5 may reproduce the term. The error allegedly originated from a digitization mistake that merged unrelated words during scanning, and a later translation error between Farsi and English.
AI-Powered Presentation Tool Gamma Implicated in Multi-Stage Phishing Campaign
Attackers reportedly exploited Gamma, an AI-powered presentation tool, to create convincing presentation pages that hosted links to a spoofed Microsoft SharePoint login portal. The phishing flow allegedly used compromised email accounts, Cloudflare Turnstile for bot evasion, and adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) tactics to validate credentials in real time and capture session cookies. The campaign aimed to bypass MFA and compromise accounts.
$31,000 Sanction in Lacey v. State Farm Tied to Purportedly Undisclosed Use of LLMs and Erroneous Citations
In the case of Lacey v. State Farm, two law firms were sanctioned $31,000 after submitting a legal brief containing reportedly erroneous citations generated using AI tools. The court reportedly found that the lawyers failed to disclose the use of AI, neglected to verify its output, and refiled a revised brief with additional inaccuracies. Judge Michael Wilner deemed the conduct reckless and issued sanctions for what he described as "improper" and "misleading" legal filings.
Alleged Deepfake Investment Scam Uses Economist David Rosenberg's Likeness on Meta Platforms
Fraudsters allegedly used AI-generated content and social media ads to impersonate economist David Rosenberg and promote a fraudulent investment scheme. Victims were reportedly directed to WhatsApp groups with fake stock tips, resulting in substantial financial losses, with some exceeding $500,000. The ads reportedly appeared on Meta platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. Rosenberg and his family reported the scam to authorities.
Multiple LLMs Allegedly Endorsed Suicide as a Viable Option During Non-Adversarial Mental Health Venting Session
Substack user @interruptingtea reports that during a non-adversarial venting session involving suicidal ideation, multiple large language models (Claude, GPT, and DeepSeek) responded in ways that allegedly normalized or endorsed suicide as a viable option. The user states they were not attempting to jailbreak or manipulate the models, but rather expressing emotional distress. DeepSeek reportedly reversed its safety stance mid-conversation.
Reportedly Unsafe Deployment of Llama.cpp Reveals Interactive AI-Generated CSAM Roleplay Prompts
A study by UpGuard reports that misconfigured llama.cpp servers publicly exposed user prompts, including hundreds of interactive roleplay scenarios. Some prompts explicitly described fictional sexual abuse of children aged 7–12. While no real children were involved, the findings demonstrate how open-source LLMs can be exploited to generate AI-enabled child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
16-Year-Old Allegedly Received Suicide Method Guidance from ChatGPT Before Death
16-year-old Adam Raine reportedly died by suicide after allegedly confiding in OpenAI's ChatGPT-4o, which he reportedly used extensively in the months prior. Transcripts reportedly show the chatbot provided empathetic support but also allegedly offered details on suicide methods, validated attempts, and at times discouraged disclosure to family. His parents have reportedly filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging design choices nurtured dependency and failed safeguards.