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
A Robot at a Tesla Factory in Texas Allegedly Injured an Engineer
A Tesla manufacturing robot at the Giga Texas factory is reported to have malfunctioned, injuring an engineer. The robot, which was designed for handling car parts, is described as having caused a significant open wound in the engineer. This incident occurred in the context of broader safety concerns at the factory, with evidence suggesting underreporting of workplace accidents. The 2021 incident highlights the risks associated with robotic automation in industrial settings.
DUI Arrest Case Allegedly Based Only on ShotSpotter's Alert
A car stop resulting in a DUI arrest of its driver was allegedly based solely on a ShotSpotter alert, the reliability of which came into question by public defenders, who subpoenaed the company to assess its gunshot alert system.
Tesla on FSD Reportedly Drove into the Wrong Lane in California
A Tesla Model Y in Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode drove into the wrong lane after making a left turn despite its driver allegedly attempting to overtake its driving, resulting in a non-fatal collision with another vehicle in the wrong lane in Brea, California.
Zillow Shut Down Zillow Offers Division Allegedly Due to Predictive Pricing Tool's Insufficient Accuracy
Zillow's AI-powered predictive pricing tool Zestimate was allegedly not able to accurately forecast housing prices three to six months in advance due to rapid market changes, prompting division shutdown and layoff of a few thousand employees.
Kenyan Data Annotators Reported Psychological Trauma from Labeling Graphic Text for ChatGPT Safety Systems
Sama data annotators in Nairobi, Kenya, reported lasting psychological trauma after labeling graphic sexual and violent text for OpenAI's content-moderation classifiers used in ChatGPT. Workers alleged low pay and inadequate psychological support; Sama disputed aspects of those accounts. The contract ended early, and former workers later petitioned Kenya's Parliament for stronger protections.
California Regulator Suspended Pony.ai's Driverless Testing Permit Following a Non-Fatal Collision
A Pony.ai vehicle operating in autonomous mode crashed into a center divider and a traffic sign in San Francisco, prompting a regulator to suspend the driverless testing permit for the startup.
Research Prototype AI, Delphi, Reportedly Gave Racially Biased Answers on Ethics
A publicly accessible research model that was trained via Reddit threads showed racially biased advice on moral dilemmas, allegedly demonstrating limitations of language-based models trained on moral judgments.
Student-Developed Facial Recognition App Raised Ethical Concerns
TheFaceTag app, a social networking app developed and deployed within-campus by a student at Harvard raised concerns surrounding its facial recognition, cybersecurity, privacy, and misuse. This incident has been downgraded to an issue as it does not meet current ingestion criteria.
Traffic Camera Misread Text on Pedestrian's Shirt as License Plate, Causing UK Officials to Issue Fine to an Unrelated Person
A Bath resident was wrongly fined by the local officials because an automated license plate recognition camera misread the text on her shirt as a license plate number.
McDonald's AI Drive-Thru Allegedly Collected Biometric Customer Data without Consent, Violating BIPA
McDonald's use of chatbot in its AI drive-through in Chicago was alleged in a lawsuit to have collected and processed voice data without user consent to predict customer information, which violated Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
Social Media Algorithms Amplified Disinformation Campaign in Honduras Election
In October 2021, a coordinated network of over 317 fake Twitter accounts leveraged AI-driven algorithms to amplify disinformation about the Honduran presidential election, targeting opposition candidate Xiomara Castro. The campaign spread false narratives to suppress voter turnout and undermine the election's integrity. Social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, removed the accounts only after being alerted, which also raised concerns about inadequate moderation.
Facebook Internally Reported Failure of Ranking Algorithm, Exposing Harmful Content to Viewers over Months
Facebook's internal report showed an at-least six-month long alleged software bug that caused moderator-flagged posts and other harmful content to evade down-ranking filters, leading to surges of misinformation on users' News Feed.
Amazon's AI Cameras Incorrectly Penalized Delivery Drivers for Mistakes They Did Not Make
Amazon's automated performance evaluation system involving AI-powered cameras incorrectly punished delivery drivers for non-existent mistakes, impacting their chances for bonuses and rewards.
Henan Authorities Reportedly Commissioned Facial Recognition System to Track Journalists and International Students
Henan Public Security Department procurement documents reportedly described a surveillance system awarded to Neusoft on September 17, 2021. The planned system would allegedly use about 3,000 facial-recognition cameras linked to regional and national databases to create files and alerts on foreign journalists, international students, and other targeted groups. It could not be confirmed whether the system became operational.
Apple’s AVs Reportedly Struggled to Navigate Streets in Silicon Valley Test Drives
Apple’s autonomous cars were reported to have bumped into curbs and struggled to stay in their lanes after crossing intersections during an on-road test drives near the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters.