AI Incident Database

A 20-year-old trader died by suicide after Robinhood's algorithmic interface showed a misleading $730,000 negative balance from options trading. The incident led to a $70M FINRA fine and major platform redesigns.

Chinese social media platforms' AI content moderation systems automatically censored early COVID-19 warnings from doctors and citizens, delaying public health response and contributing to pandemic spread.

Hong Kong authorities deployed AI facial recognition through smart lampposts and CCTV networks to identify pro-democracy protesters in 2019-2020, leading to arrests and systematic suppression of assembly rights.

An autonomous electric bus struck a pedestrian in Vienna during 2019 trial operations when its AI sensor systems failed to detect the person crossing the street.

Amazon's AI-powered warehouse productivity tracking system automatically terminated workers who couldn't meet algorithm-set quotas, leading to unsafe working speeds and injury rates significantly higher than industry averages.

Academic research revealed Spotify's AI recommendation algorithm created negative feedback loops, systematically pushing users who listened to sad music toward increasingly depressive content, raising concerns about algorithmic impact on mental health.

In 2018, a Chinese AI traffic enforcement camera mistakenly identified a businesswoman's face on a bus advertisement as a jaywalker, publicly displaying her photo on a shame screen designed to deter traffic violations.

Boeing's MCAS automated flight control system caused two fatal 737 MAX crashes killing 346 people due to reliance on single faulty sensors and inadequate pilot oversight mechanisms.

Boeing's MCAS automated flight system caused two fatal 737 MAX crashes killing 346 people by relying on single faulty sensors to override pilot control. Boeing concealed system details from pilots and regulators, leading to worldwide grounding and $2.5 billion legal settlement.

South Wales Police facial recognition system at 2018 Champions League final falsely identified 2,470 innocent people with 92% false positive rate. Court later ruled the deployment unlawful, violating human rights.

Tesla Autopilot failed to detect a concrete barrier on Highway 101, killing Apple engineer Walter Huang in March 2018. NTSB found the system misclassified the barrier and accelerated into it.

An Uber self-driving test vehicle struck and killed 49-year-old pedestrian Elaine Herzberg in Tempe, Arizona, marking the first documented fatality involving a fully autonomous vehicle. The car's AI perception system detected Herzberg but repeatedly misclassified her and failed to initiate emergency braking.

Uber's self-driving test vehicle fatally struck pedestrian Elaine Herzberg in March 2018 when AI perception systems misclassified her multiple times and failed to predict her path. NTSB investigation revealed disabled emergency braking and inadequate safety protocols.

A Navya autonomous shuttle in Las Vegas froze when a truck backed into it on the first day of public trials, highlighting limitations in autonomous vehicle evasive action programming despite correct threat detection.

The cargo ship El Faro sank in Hurricane Joaquin after AI weather routing systems directed it into the storm's path, killing all 33 crew members. The NTSB investigation revealed the automated systems prioritized efficiency over safety.

YouTube Kids' recommendation algorithm promoted disturbing content disguised as children's programming to millions of children. The FTC fined YouTube $170 million in 2019 for COPPA violations related to this incident.

Waze's AI routing algorithm directed heavy traffic through residential neighborhoods and school zones, creating safety hazards and prompting cities to implement countermeasures against algorithmic routing decisions.

A 300-pound Knightscope K5 autonomous security robot at Stanford Shopping Center knocked down and ran over a 16-month-old toddler in July 2016, causing minor injuries when its sensors failed to detect the child.

A Knightscope K5 autonomous security robot knocked down and ran over a 16-month-old child at Stanford Shopping Center when its obstacle detection systems failed to identify the toddler.

Tesla's Autopilot system has been involved in hundreds of crashes investigated by NHTSA, including multiple fatalities where the AI failed to detect emergency vehicles, cross traffic, and road barriers, leading to ongoing regulatory scrutiny and litigation.