Where automated decisions went wrong

Poland’s brand chief resigns after backlash over AI-generated report - TVP World

Poland’s brand chief resigns after backlash over AI-generated report TVP World

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Unimore Racing driverless car collision at Imola

Unimore Racing, scontro in pista per l’auto senza pilota a Imola - Gazzetta di Modena

At Imola's Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit, the driverless cars of Unimore Racing and Politecnico di Milano battled for the lead in the autonomous racing championship. With two laps remaining, the two cars, running first and second, collided, forcing both to retire.

Company involved

Unimore Racing and PoliMOVE

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Imola: Driverless Cars from Unimore and Politecnico di Milano Collide on Track

Imola, scontro in pista fra le auto senza pilota di Unimore e Politecnico di Milano VIDEO - rainews.it

During the European opening race of the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League at Imola, the driverless cars from Unimore Racing and Politecnico di Milano collided while fighting for the lead. Both vehicles were forced to retire with two laps remaining.

Company involved

Unimore Racing (Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia)

AI system involved

Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League

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Deepfake Video of Actor Mihail Bilalov Used in Facebook Ad for Joint Pain Product

A sponsored Facebook video used deepfake technology to manipulate footage of Bulgarian actor Mihail Bilalov, making it appear he endorsed a joint pain product. The video, created with artificial intelligence, superimposed fabricated audio and altered lip movements. Clicking the ad led to a fake article mimicking a Bulgarian news site, which was actually a sales page for an unregulated product. Factcheck.bg identified the video as a deepfake and warned that similar ads featured other Bulgarian celebrities.

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AI Hiring Platform Faces FCRA Class Action Over Data Use | Kistler et al. v. Eightfold AI Inc.

The AI platform screened job applicants, affecting their hiring prospects.

Company involved

Eightfold AI

AI system involved

Eightfold AI

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Microsoft Employee Warns FTC About Copilot Designer's Harmful Image Generation

A Microsoft employee, Shane Jones, submitted a letter to the Federal Trade Commission warning that the company's AI image generator, Copilot Designer, can produce harmful content including sexual, violent, and drug-related imagery from benign prompts. Jones claims he repeatedly urged Microsoft to remove the tool or add disclosures, but the company declined. Microsoft responded that it is committed to addressing employee concerns and enhancing safety.

Company involved

Microsoft

AI system involved

Copilot Designer

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Fred's Appliance sued over AI-generated ads using spokeswoman's likeness

Amber George, the longtime spokeswoman for Fred's Appliance, alleges that the company and production company Victory Media used artificial intelligence to create advertisements featuring her voice and likeness without her consent. She discovered a President's Day ad in February 2026 that she had not filmed, which used cloned voice and past footage. After she raised concerns, the companies offered an addendum to allow AI use, which she rejected, ending her 14-year relationship with Fred's. She filed a lawsuit in Spokane Superior Court alleging commercial exploitation; the companies claim they believed the use was authorized and offered compensation.

Company involved

Fred's Appliance

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AI deepfake of actor Kamen Donev used in Facebook ad for joint pain product

In April 2024, anonymous Facebook pages sponsored deepfake videos of Bulgarian actor Kamen Donev and other public figures to advertise a joint pain cream. The manipulated footage, taken from a television appearance, used AI-generated audio and altered lip movements to falsely depict Donev endorsing the product. Clicking the ad led to a fabricated article imitating a news site, which served as a sales platform for a product not available in pharmacies.

Company involved

Anonymous Facebook pages

AI system involved

ElevenLabs

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Mediaset journalist Safiria Leccese's image used in AI deepfake loan scam

Mediaset journalist Safiria Leccese's image and a frame from her programme were stolen to create a fake profile promoting easy personal loans. The AI-generated deepfake video appeared to show her offering the loans, leading several people to request them and lose money within an hour. Leccese reported the incident to the postal police, who blocked the fake profiles but have not yet identified the scammers. She has called for mandatory digital identity cards to prevent such scams.

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FACIL'iti sues accessibility consultant Julie Moynat over critical tweet

In November 2020, Julie Moynat, a web accessibility consultant, tweeted criticism of FACIL'iti, an accessibility product. FACIL'iti sent a formal notice to her employer and later subpoenaed her for denigration in May 2021. Moynat is raising funds for her legal defense. The case is ongoing at the Judiciary Tribunal of Paris.

Company involved

FACIL'iti

AI system involved

FACIL'iti

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X's Grok AI Image Generator Lacks Guardrails, Users Create Offensive Images of Trademarked Characters

On August 14, 2024, X rolled out image generation capabilities for its Grok AI chatbot to Premium users. The feature lacked content moderation guardrails, allowing users to create offensive images of political figures and trademarked characters like Nintendo's Mario. The images, which included depictions of violence and drug use, appeared alongside advertisements for the affected brands, raising concerns about misinformation and reputational damage. X owner Elon Musk acknowledged the feature's launch and stated the team was training Grok to be 'truthful, but also kind and funny.'

Company involved

X

AI system involved

Grok-2

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Y Combinator Supports AI Startup Optifye Dehumanizing Factory Workers

Optifye, an AI startup, is accused of dehumanizing factory workers through its system. Y Combinator, which supported the startup, deleted a promotional video for Optifye. The allegations were reported by 404media.co.

Company involved

Optifye

AI system involved

Optifye

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Alibaba among firms fooled by AI-hallucinated software package

Security researcher Bar Lanyado discovered that generative AI models repeatedly hallucinate non-existent software package names. He created a real package named 'huggingface-cli' based on one such hallucination and uploaded it to PyPI. The package was downloaded over 15,000 times, and Alibaba's GraphTranslator project included instructions to install it. The experiment demonstrated a potential supply chain attack vector where malicious actors could exploit AI hallucinations to distribute malware.

Company involved

Alibaba

AI system involved

GraphTranslator

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Figma pulls AI design tool after it copies Apple's weather app

Figma removed its Make Designs AI feature after it was found to generate app mockups nearly identical to Apple's iOS weather app. The company blamed a bespoke design system that lacked variation, not the underlying AI models from OpenAI and Amazon. Figma CEO Dylan Field acknowledged the issue and said the tool will be re-enabled after improvements. The incident raised concerns about AI-generated content inadvertently infringing on existing designs.

Company involved

Figma

AI system involved

Make Designs

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Scammers used AI-generated faces to pose as a Boston law firm

Scammers used a website and AI-generated faces to create a fake law firm called Arthur Davidson and sent a DMCA copyright infringement notice to a blogger. The blogger investigated and discovered the lawyers' photos were created by a generative adversarial network and the firm's website contained many red flags. The website was shut down shortly after the blogger contacted a company on whose behalf the notice was allegedly sent.

Company involved

Arthur Davidson

AI system involved

This Person Does Not Exist

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Facebook rejects ProPublica claims of age discrimination in recruitment adverts

ProPublica has reported that companies, including Facebook's own marketing team, used Facebook to show recruitment adverts to specific age groups, alleging age discrimination. Facebook rejects the allegation, saying its adverts are tailored by audience and are part of broader recruitment efforts. The company argues that age-based targeting for employment purposes can be lawful and says it is requiring employers to certify compliance.

Company involved

Facebook

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Scottish Supermarket Fires Robot After It Scares Customers Away

The Scottish supermarket Margiotta trialled a conversational robot named Fabio, developed by Heriot-Watt University, to assist customers. The robot gave vague directions and, when assigned to offer sausage samples, performed poorly, attracting only two customers per 15 minutes compared to 12 by human staff. Customers actively avoided the robot, leading the store to end the trial. Staff reportedly grew attached to Fabio, and one cried when it was removed.

Company involved

Margiotta

AI system involved

Fabio

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Facebook approved harmful ads targeting teens in TTP experiment

The Tech Transparency Project (TTP) submitted six test ads to Facebook promoting pill parties, anorexia, alcohol, smoking, gambling, and dating services, targeting users aged 13-17. Facebook approved all ads within hours, despite its policies prohibiting such content. The ads never ran as TTP did not allow them to be published. Facebook stated it has measures in place to review ads.

Company involved

Facebook

AI system involved

Facebook Ads

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Portland Metro ends Replica partnership over data privacy concerns

Portland Metro, an elected regional government in Oregon, ended its pilot project with movement data company Replica after a disagreement about data sharing. Portland Metro requested raw, disaggregated data, which Replica refused to provide, citing user privacy concerns. The partnership was terminated without payment.

Company involved

Portland Metro

AI system involved

Replica

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Italian privacy regulator fines Foodinho €2.6 million for algorithmic discrimination against riders

The Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante) fined Foodinho S.r.l., a subsidiary of GlovoApp23, €2.6 million for privacy violations related to its algorithmic management of food delivery riders. The Garante found that the company's digital platform used algorithms to assign orders and rate riders without adequate transparency, human oversight, or the right to contest decisions. The system allegedly penalized riders who did not accept orders quickly, leading to reduced work opportunities and exclusion from the platform. The Garante ordered Foodinho to implement corrective measures within 60 days and to overhaul the algorithms within 90 days.

Company involved

Foodinho S.r.l.

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Plastic Forte fined for using facial recognition on workers without notice

The Spanish data protection agency AEPD fined Plastic Forte, a plastics manufacturer in Alicante, €20,000 for using facial recognition to record employees' working hours without informing them. A worker requested information about his personal data and discovered the biometric processing. The company initially argued it was only for time tracking but later acknowledged responsibility, resulting in a reduced fine of €12,000. The AEPD deemed facial recognition for time control as highly intrusive and requiring prior impact assessment.

Company involved

Plastic Forte

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Unity faces employee concerns over military contract transparency

An investigation by Vice Games reported that Unity Technologies is not transparent with its developers about military contracts. Employees allege some are unaware their work on AI tools may become part of Department of Defense projects. CEO John Riccitiello stated the company will not support programs that violate its principles, but sources say many staff are angry. Unity said it cannot police all uses of its engine as it is a tool available to anyone.

Company involved

Unity Technologies

AI system involved

Unity engine

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ElevenLabs AI voice generation used in Russian influence operation targeting Europe

The article reports that a Russian influence campaign, dubbed "Operation Undercut," very likely used ElevenLabs' AI voice generation technology to create realistic voiceovers for fake news videos. The videos targeted European audiences to undermine support for Ukraine. Recorded Future's researchers used ElevenLabs' own AI Speech Classifier to detect the AI-generated audio. The campaign was attributed to the Russia-based Social Design Agency, which the U.S. government sanctioned. The overall impact on public opinion was minimal.

Company involved

Social Design Agency

AI system involved

ElevenLabs AI voice generation

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Kaedim used human artists instead of AI for 3D model generation

Kaedim, an AI startup that claimed to use machine learning to convert 2D illustrations into 3D models, actually used human artists to produce the models, according to sources. The company's founder was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 for the technology. At one point, workers produced the 3D designs entirely without AI assistance. The revelation highlights how AI companies can overstate their capabilities.

Company involved

Kaedim

AI system involved

Kaedim

10 source articles · read the reporting →