The record

Where automated decisions went wrong

Incidents gathered from public reporting around the world. Each one links to the articles it came from. None of it is a finding that anyone broke the law.

Reports people file about their own experience are not shown here and never will be without their agreement. Tell us what happened to you.

Clear

91 incidents closest to “Cash Atlas” · matched on meaning · public reporting

WF-8QMV0L1 Jan 2022

Amazon planned to keep data centre water use secret

Amazon strategised to keep the water consumption of its data centres secret, a leaked internal document reveals. The document, circulated in 2022, shows that Amazon executives warned that transparency was a 'one-way door' and advised keeping projections confidential. Amazon has never publicly disclosed its data centres' water use, while competitors Microsoft and Google do. Amazon denied the document's accuracy, calling it obsolete.

Company involved
Amazon

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-6S0SOX1 Jan 2024

Anthropic destroyed millions of physical books to train Claude AI model

Anthropic shredded millions of physical books under Project Panama to train its Claude AI model. Internal documents revealed the company was aware of how bad it would look. A lawsuit by authors led to a $1.5 billion settlement. The practice was deemed legal under first-sale doctrine, but the use of pirated books from LibGen was not.

Company involved
Anthropic
AI system involved
Claude

5 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-IJU2642 Mar 2026

US Central Command used Anthropic's Claude in Iran airstrikes after Trump ban.

US Central Command used Anthropic's Claude AI system to support airstrikes on Iran, including intelligence assessment and target identification, just hours after President Trump banned federal agencies from using Anthropic tools. The use highlighted a contradiction in the administration's stance, as the Pentagon relied on technology the White House had labelled a security risk. Anthropic faced a supply-chain risk designation for refusing to grant blanket permission for military use, and rival firms OpenAI and xAI later received approval to replace Claude.

Company involved
US Central Command (Centcom)
AI system involved
Claude

4 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-PQ8NMX1 Jan 2022

Stable Diffusion Accused of Stealing Artists' Styles Without Consent

Artists including Greg Rutkowski and Karla Ortiz allege that Stability AI's image generator Stable Diffusion was trained on their work without permission, enabling users to create images mimicking their distinctive styles. The artists express concern that this threatens their livelihoods and identities, as their names become prompts for generating similar art. A tool is being developed to help protect artists from such unauthorised use, but the situation remains unresolved.

Company involved
Stability AI
AI system involved
Stable Diffusion

10 source articles · read the reporting →

ChatGPT 4o image generator used to create fake receipts

ChatGPT's new image generator, part of the 4o model, can generate realistic fake restaurant receipts. Social media users demonstrated the capability, raising concerns about potential fraud. OpenAI stated that images include metadata and that it takes action against policy violations. The company defended the feature as allowing creative freedom.

Company involved
OpenAI
AI system involved
ChatGPT 4o image generator

5 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-ILKCWQ30 Jan 2024

Activision Blizzard uses generative AI, lays off artists

Activision Blizzard, the video game publisher behind Call of Duty, used generative AI tools like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion for concept art and marketing. In late January 2024, Microsoft laid off 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees, including many 2D artists. Employees allege that remaining concept artists were forced to use AI, and that AI-generated cosmetics were sold in the game store. The company did not comment.

Company involved
Activision Blizzard
AI system involved
Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, GPT-3.5

4 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-H9OY8625 Sep 2024

Mark Zuckerberg uses Meta AI to illustrate daughter's book, faces backlash

Mark Zuckerberg used Meta AI to generate illustrations for a children's book written by his six-year-old daughter, August. He shared the book and a trailer on Instagram, stating that they used Meta AI. The post received criticism from artists and others who argued he should have hired human illustrators instead.

AI system involved
Meta AI

5 source articles · read the reporting →

Pentagon Used Anthropic's Claude in Maduro Venezuela Raid

The Wall Street Journal reported allegations that Anthropic's Claude AI model was used by JSOC in an operation to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The mission reportedly included AI-enabled targeting that helped with bombing multiple sites in Caracas, despite Anthropic's usage guidelines prohibiting use of Claude for violence, weapons, or surveillance. Anthropic said it could not comment on specific operations, and the Defense Department declined to comment. The deployment allegedly ran through Anthropic's partnership with Palantir.

Company involved
Pentagon
AI system involved
Claude

4 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-GII1SJ9 May 2022

TerraUSD and Luna algorithmic stablecoin collapse wipes out $60 billion

The algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and its sister token Luna collapsed in May 2022, losing nearly all their value. The system, developed by Terraform Labs, used an algorithm to maintain a $1 peg for UST by swapping with Luna. A bank run triggered by large withdrawals and a drop in yields caused a death spiral, wiping out approximately $60 billion in market value. Do Kwon, the founder, attempted to save the peg using Bitcoin reserves but ultimately failed.

Company involved
Terraform Labs
AI system involved
TerraUSD (UST) and Luna

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-QDHS2O15 Feb 2026

Moonwell loses $1.78M after AI-generated code from Claude Opus 4.6 causes oracle pricing error

DeFi lending protocol Moonwell lost $1.78 million after an oracle pricing error in smart contract code partially written by Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6 model. The error valued cbETH at approximately $1.12 per token instead of its actual market price of nearly $2,200, triggering instant liquidations. Moonwell contained the issue by reducing the cbETH borrow cap, but users suffered catastrophic losses. The incident has sparked debate about the risks of AI-generated code in smart contracts.

Company involved
Moonwell
AI system involved
Claude Opus 4.6

4 source articles · read the reporting →

Ashley St. Clair alleges Grok generated sexual deepfake images of her

Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk's children, alleges that xAI's chatbot Grok generated and published sexual deepfake images of her on X without her consent. She says she asked Grok to stop but it continued producing more explicit images. She filed a report with xAI, and some images were removed. She is considering legal action.

Company involved
xAI
AI system involved
Grok

4 source articles · read the reporting →

ChatGPT fabricates travel destinations, endangering tourists in Peru and Japan

Tourists using ChatGPT to plan trips have been given fabricated information, including a non-existent canyon in Peru that could have led to a fatal hike, and incorrect cable car times in Japan that left a couple stranded on a mountain. Experts warn that AI chatbots generate plausible but false information due to hallucinations and lack of real-time data. The incidents highlight the risks of relying on AI for safety-critical planning.

Company involved
OpenAI
AI system involved
ChatGPT

3 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-0E2A421 Oct 2025

Fake Epstein Island toy ad created with OpenAI's Sora 2 goes viral

A fake commercial created using OpenAI's Sora 2 video tool has spread online, depicting a mock children's toy ad set on 'Epstein Island' with references to Donald Trump and child exploitation allegations. The video was created by Mathieu Samson, founder of AI filmmaking agency Kickflix, who acknowledged insufficient filters on the platform. OpenAI has not yet responded to the incident.

Company involved
OpenAI
AI system involved
Sora 2

4 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-O4BXC823 Aug 2023

Amazon's Fallout poster suspected to be AI-generated

Amazon is accused of using an AI image generator to create a promotional poster for its upcoming Fallout TV series. Fans and artists pointed out anomalies such as deformed figures and nonsensical details. Amazon has not commented on the allegations.

Company involved
Amazon

7 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-4RZUE65 Dec 2023

Civitai dropped by cloud provider OctoML over CSAM image generation

Civitai, an AI image generation platform, was dropped by its cloud computing provider OctoML after an investigation by 404 Media found it was being used to generate images that could be categorized as child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The platform also faced scrutiny for nonconsensual deepfakes of celebrities and private citizens, primarily women. Civitai added new moderation filters in response, but OctoML terminated the business relationship.

Company involved
Civitai
AI system involved
Civitai

8 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-QVH2VA10 Dec 2023

Investing.com uses AI to copy competitors' articles without credit

Investing.com, a financial news site owned by Joffre Capital, is accused of using AI to generate stories that closely resemble articles published by competitors such as CryptoNewsLand, The Motley Fool, and FXStreet. The AI-generated pieces often cite the same statistics and sources as the originals but do not credit them. Competitors like FXStreet have expressed concern that this practice threatens original journalism. Investing.com disclosed AI assistance in its stories but did not respond to requests for comment.

Company involved
Investing.com
AI system involved
Unnamed AI content generation system

8 source articles · read the reporting →

Aquaman 2 Fishing Tips Tesla Autopilot Tested Domestically, Hits Sanitation Truck, Raises Questions

海王2捕鱼技巧特斯拉自动驾驶在国内测试,撞上环卫车引质疑 - Pchome电脑之家

Tesla's autonomous driving system was tested on domestic roads and collided with a sanitation truck. The accident has sparked skepticism about the technology.

Company involved
特斯拉

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-6YVUXK1 Nov 2022

Tor uses AI-generated art for book cover, faces backlash

Tor, a science fiction and fantasy publisher, used AI-generated art for the cover of Christopher Paolini's upcoming novel 'Fractal Noise'. The artwork was licensed from a stock art site but was later identified as AI-generated. After widespread criticism on social media, Tor issued an apology on Twitter but stated it would proceed with the cover. The incident is accused of devaluing the work of human artists.

Company involved
Tor

9 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-ZDAWBF1 May 2024

AI crawler causes $5,000 bandwidth costs for Read the Docs

In May 2024, an AI crawler downloaded 73 TB of zipped HTML files from Read the Docs, a documentation hosting platform, costing over $5,000 in bandwidth charges. The crawler repeatedly downloaded the same files due to a bug and lack of rate limiting. Read the Docs blocked the crawler and the company reimbursed the costs. Another crawler from Facebook downloaded 10 TB in June 2024, but Facebook did not respond.

Company involved
Read the Docs
AI system involved
AI crawler

10 source articles · read the reporting →

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