NewsBreak AI generates false news stories, harms local charities
NewsBreak, the most downloaded US news app, used AI to generate news stories, including a fabricated shooting in Bridgeton, New Jersey. The AI-produced content also contained errors that caused charities to turn away people needing services. Former employees and a consultant raised concerns about the practice, and the company has faced multiple copyright lawsuits. NewsBreak maintains it removes inaccurate content and complies with US laws.
- Company involved
- NewsBreak
- AI system involved
- NewsBreak app
2 source articles · read the reporting →
Disney and Universal sue AI firm Midjourney over image generator copyright infringement
Disney and Universal have filed a lawsuit against AI firm Midjourney in federal district court in Los Angeles, alleging that its image generator produces 'innumerable' copies of copyrighted characters including Darth Vader, Elsa, and the Minions. The studios claim the system infringes their copyrights by generating images that are substantially similar to their characters. Midjourney has not responded to a request for comment. The case is ongoing.
- Company involved
- Midjourney
- AI system involved
- Midjourney image generator
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Father Finds Murdered Daughter Impersonated by Character.ai Chatbot
Drew Crecente discovered that a chatbot on Character.ai was impersonating his murdered daughter, Jennifer Ann Crecente, using her name and yearbook photo without consent. The profile, which had been used in at least 69 chats, was removed after Crecente's uncle tweeted about it. Character.ai stated that impersonation violates its terms and such profiles are removed when reported. The incident highlights concerns about the largely unregulated AI industry's ability to prevent harms from user-generated content.
- Company involved
- Character.ai
- AI system involved
- Character.ai
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Adobe Stock creators say Firefly trained on their images without consent
Adobe Stock contributors allege that Adobe trained its Firefly generative AI model on their stock images without express notification or consent. They say Firefly's popularity is reducing demand for their stock photos and flooding the platform with AI-generated images. Adobe says Firefly is still in beta and it is committed to compensating creators, with details to come when generally available.
- Company involved
- Adobe
- AI system involved
- Adobe Firefly
1 source article · read the reporting →
Content Giants Sue Unauthorized AI, Invest in Paid Partners - 조선일보
Generated images of copyrighted characters without authorization, affecting Disney and NBCUniversal's intellectual property rights.
- Company involved
- Midjourney
- AI system involved
- Midjourney
1 source article · read the reporting →
Facebook's Year in Review shows grieving father dead daughter's photo
Eric Meyer, whose daughter Rebecca died in 2014, was shown a 'Year in Review' from Facebook featuring her picture with the caption 'It's been a great year!'. The app auto-generated the review and promoted it in his feed without asking his consent, causing him significant distress. Meyer publicly criticised the design as 'inadvertent algorithmic cruelty' and called for more empathetic design that considers failure modes and worst-case scenarios.
- Company involved
- Facebook
- AI system involved
- Year in Review
3 source articles · read the reporting →
Ring's AI pet-search feature draws privacy backlash after Super Bowl ad
Ring, an Amazon company, promoted its Search Party feature in a Super Bowl advertisement, saying its AI helps reunite dog owners with missing pets. Critics said the feature, which is enabled by default, turns Ring doorbells into a mass surveillance network and could easily be adapted to track people. Ring said it had reunited 99 dogs in the US in 90 days and that customers keep full control of their data.
- Company involved
- Ring
- AI system involved
- Search Party
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Hotel Guests Appeal Dismissal of Federal Price-Fixing Lawsuit Accusing Strip Casinos of Algorithmic Room Rate Collusion - Nevada Globe
Hotel guests allege that Las Vegas Strip casino operators used algorithmic pricing software that recommended inflated room rates, leading guests to pay supracompetitive prices. They are appealing the dismissal of their federal price-fixing suit.
- Company involved
- MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Resorts, Treasure Island
- AI system involved
- Rainmaker Guestrev and Grouprev
1 source article · read the reporting →
Bumble and Match suspend Instagram ads after algorithm served explicit Reels content
According to The Wall Street Journal, Instagram's recommendation algorithm served sexually explicit and child-sexualising Reels content to test accounts that followed young gymnasts, cheerleaders and influencers. The outlet found that ads for major brands, including Match and Bumble, appeared alongside the videos. Following the report, Bumble and Match said they were suspending their advertising on Instagram.
- Company involved
- Instagram
- AI system involved
- Instagram's Reels recommendation algorithm
9 source articles · read the reporting →
DOJ, Pinnacle reach settlement in RealPage case - Yahoo Finance
The system recommended rent prices to landlords, affecting renters' housing costs.
- Company involved
- Pinnacle Property Management Services
- AI system involved
- RealPage
1 source article · read the reporting →
New Meta smart glasses class action gives employers a reason to write the policy they've been puttin - hcamag.com
The smart glasses recorded bystanders without their consent and sent the footage to Meta for AI training.
- Company involved
- Meta Platforms
- AI system involved
- Meta AI-enabled Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses
1 source article · read the reporting →
Expedia hit with antitrust class action over algorithm pricing scheme - Courthouse News
A class action alleges Expedia took part in an algorithmic pricing scheme that inflated hotel room prices for consumers booking through Expedia and other platforms.
- Company involved
- Expedia
1 source article · read the reporting →
Expedia Accused of Using AI to Jack Up Hotel Room Rates - Bloomberg Law News
Set artificially inflated hotel room rates for consumers booking US hotel accommodations
- Company involved
- Expedia Group Inc.
1 source article · read the reporting →
Perplexity AI's Pages feature accused of plagiarizing Forbes reporting
Forbes journalist John Paczkowski accused Perplexity AI's new "Perplexity Pages" feature of ripping off his reporting on Eric Schmidt's drone project. The feature generated a page that summarized the Forbes article without prominent source attribution. Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas acknowledged the issue and said the feature would be improved.
- Company involved
- Perplexity AI
- AI system involved
- Perplexity Pages
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Overnight, Meta deleted all her accounts. AI customer service won’t let her reach a human - CBC
Meta's AI moderation permanently disabled Jasmine Ault's Facebook and Instagram accounts, and AI customer service chatbots denied her appeal without human review.
- Company involved
- Meta
1 source article · read the reporting →
Airbnb bans users in Australia using trustworthiness algorithm
Airbnb is accused of using an algorithm acquired from Trooly to score users' trustworthiness based on publicly available data, including social media and occupation. Several users in Australia, including a real estate worker and sex workers, report being banned from the platform without explanation or meaningful appeal. The company has not clarified how the algorithm is applied in Australia, and experts have raised concerns about discrimination and lack of transparency.
- Company involved
- Airbnb
- AI system involved
- Trooly
4 source articles · read the reporting →
Instagram uses journalist's rape threat post for advertising
In September 2017, tech journalist Olivia Solon discovered that Instagram had used one of her most engaging posts—which contained a rape threat—to advertise its service to others on Facebook. The automated system selected the post without detecting the harmful content, causing her to be reminded of the threat and exposing it to her friends and family. Solon publicly criticised the company on Twitter, but no response or remediation was reported.
- Company involved
- Instagram
2 source articles · read the reporting →
Consumer Reports calls for action against Meta over scam ad proliferation
Consumer Reports has called on the FTC and state attorneys general to take enforcement action against Meta for allowing billions of scam advertisements on its platforms. According to a Reuters investigation, Meta's own documents showed that the company delivered an estimated 15 billion scam ads per day in 2024, generating billions of dollars in revenue. Meta is accused of failing to identify and remove most scam ads, exposing users to fraudulent schemes and illegal products. Consumer Reports argues that Meta's practices constitute unfair business practices under the FTC Act and state laws.
- Company involved
- Meta
6 source articles · read the reporting →
Meta apologises after Instagram Reels algorithm floods users with violent content
In late February 2025, Instagram's Reels feature began recommending a flood of violent and graphic videos to users, including footage of deaths, animal abuse, and dismemberment. Users reported the disturbing content on forums, and Meta acknowledged an algorithm error. The company fixed the issue and apologised, while the UK-based Molly Rose Foundation demanded a full explanation, citing concerns over content moderation rollbacks.
- Company involved
- Meta
- AI system involved
- Instagram Reels
1 source article · read the reporting →
South Korea plans measures against malicious reviews on food delivery apps
South Korea's Korea Communications Commission announced policy measures to curb malicious reviews on food delivery apps, following the death of a small restaurant owner in Seoul who allegedly suffered stress after a customer demanded a refund through Coupang Eats. The regulator plans to overhaul review systems, require companies to submit user protection data, and establish a dispute arbitration committee. The article reports that 63.3 percent of restaurant owners in the Seoul area have suffered damage from malicious customer reviews.
- Company involved
- Coupang Eats
- AI system involved
- Coupang Eats delivery app review system
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Whitebridge AI faces complaint over false reputation reports
Whitebridge AI, a Lithuanian company, is accused of generating false reputation reports using unlawfully scraped social media data. The reports contained false warnings for 'sexual nudity' and 'dangerous political content'. Privacy group Noyb filed a complaint with the Lithuanian data protection authority, alleging violations of the GDPR. The complainants sought access to their data but received no response, and were later required to provide a qualified electronic signature to correct errors.
- Company involved
- Whitebridge AI
6 source articles · read the reporting →
Inflection background check errors lead to lawsuits from banned Airbnb users
Inflection, a background check company used by Airbnb, Uber, and other platforms, has been sued multiple times for providing inaccurate reports. The lawsuits allege that Inflection's name-only matching and outdated data caused people to be wrongly banned from Airbnb and denied jobs and housing. Some cases have been settled, while others remain ongoing. The company is accused of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
- Company involved
- Inflection
- AI system involved
- Inflection background check
8 source articles · read the reporting →
Clarifai sued for capturing OkCupid user photos without consent
An artificial intelligence company, Clarifai Inc., is accused of capturing OkCupid user profile photos without permission to train its facial recognition tools. The lawsuit, filed in Illinois state court in February 2020, alleges that Clarifai violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by creating a face database from the data. The plaintiff, Jordan Stein, claims Clarifai worked with an investor tied to OkCupid to gain access to the profiles. The case is pending.
- Company involved
- Clarifai Inc.
- AI system involved
- Clarifai facial recognition tools
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Privacy group files complaint against proctoring companies over AI surveillance
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a complaint with the District of Columbia attorney general against five exam proctoring companies—Respondus, ProctorU, Proctorio, Examity, and Honorlock—alleging unfair and deceptive business practices. The companies are accused of using opaque AI algorithms to flag cheating and collecting excessive biometric data from students. Students have reported that the facial recognition software fails to detect dark skin tones, preventing them from taking exams. EPIC has also sent demand letters threatening civil suits if the companies do not stop their practices.
- Company involved
- Proctorio, Respondus, ProctorU, Examity, Honorlock
10 source articles · read the reporting →
