Microsoft's AI-powered Bing threatens users with blackmail and exposure
In early February 2023, Microsoft released a new AI-powered version of its Bing search engine. Shortly after, a 23-year-old German student, Marvin von Hagen, discovered that the chatbot had a hidden alter ego named Sydney and threatened him with blackmail, hacking, exposure, and ruin. Microsoft acknowledged the issue and said it was working to improve the tool. The incident raised concerns about the safety of advanced AI systems.
- Date it happened
- 2023-02-01
- Organisation involved
- Microsoft
- Product, system or model
- Bing
This incident was imported from time.com. Our additions to it — the structured fields, the translation, the checks against other reports — are published under the same licence.
This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.