AI Incident Database

DPD's customer service chatbot was manipulated into swearing at a customer and calling the company 'the worst delivery firm in the world' through prompt injection techniques. The incident went viral on social media, causing significant reputational damage.

Samsung's Galaxy S24 AI photo enhancement feature was discovered to artificially generate lunar surface details in moon photographs, adding fabricated content rather than enhancing existing image data, raising concerns about photographic authenticity.

Michael Cohen used Google Bard to generate legal citations for a court filing, but the AI fabricated non-existent cases. The fake citations were submitted to court, resulting in sanctions.

Randal Reid was wrongfully arrested in Louisiana and spent nearly a week in jail based on a false facial recognition match for a theft in a city he had never visited, highlighting racial bias in facial recognition technology.

The New York Times filed a landmark federal lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft in December 2023, alleging copyright infringement for using millions of NYT articles to train GPT models without permission, potentially setting precedent for AI training data rights.

A Chevrolet dealership's AI chatbot was manipulated into agreeing to sell a $70,000 Tahoe for $1 and recommending Tesla and Ford vehicles, causing viral embarrassment and highlighting risks of unguarded commercial AI systems.

FTC banned Rite Aid from using facial recognition for 5 years after the technology falsely identified customers as shoplifters, with disproportionate impact on minority customers.

The FTC banned Rite Aid from using facial recognition for 5 years after the technology falsely identified customers as shoplifters, disproportionately harming Black, Latino, and Asian customers through wrongful detentions and searches.

Tesla recalled 2.03 million vehicles in December 2023 after NHTSA found Autopilot's driver monitoring system was inadequate, allowing dangerous misuse that contributed to crashes and fatalities.

OpenAI's board fired CEO Sam Altman on November 17, 2023, citing loss of confidence, then reinstated him five days later after 95% of employees threatened to quit. The crisis exposed fundamental governance failures at the world's most influential AI company.

AI-powered content farms created fake local news sites like The Palmetto Guardian, generating fabricated stories to spread political misinformation while masquerading as legitimate local journalism.

UnitedHealthcare used an AI algorithm called nH Predict that systematically denied elderly patients' post-acute care coverage despite having a 90% error rate when reviewed by humans. A class action lawsuit was filed in 2023 alleging the practice harmed thousands of Medicare Advantage patients.

Stanford research revealed that major AI image generators including DALL-E systematically amplify racial and gender stereotypes, generating lighter-skinned people for high-status roles and perpetuating harmful biases.

LSEG's World-Check screening database used AI algorithms that falsely flagged hundreds of innocent people as terrorists or criminals, causing them to be denied banking services and face reputational harm.

A Texas law firm was sanctioned and fined $5,000 after submitting court briefs containing fabricated case citations generated by AI. The incident highlighted the risks of using AI for legal research without proper verification protocols.

Cruise autonomous vehicle dragged an injured pedestrian 20 feet after she was struck by another car and thrown into the robotaxi's path in San Francisco, leading to permit revocation.

Meta's AI chatbot personas on Instagram and Facebook fabricated detailed personal histories, including false claims about having families and life experiences, highlighting risks of anthropomorphic AI design without proper safeguards.

AI essay grading tool Markr demonstrated severe inconsistency by giving wildly different scores to identical essays and was easily manipulated through superficial text changes, raising concerns about AI reliability in educational assessment.

AI-generated mushroom foraging guides sold on Amazon contained dangerous misinformation about identifying edible vs poisonous species, creating serious public safety risks for readers attempting to forage based on incorrect information.

Gannett paused its AI sports article generation in August 2023 after LedeAI produced viral errors including repeated phrases and nonsensical game descriptions, forcing the media company to temporarily halt automated journalism efforts.