AI transcription tool Otter.ai causes health data breach at Ontario hospital
A former physician at an Ontario hospital installed the Otter.ai transcription tool and gave it access to his digital calendar. Because his personal email was still on a meeting invite list, the AI agent autonomously joined a virtual hepatology round, transcribed it, and emailed the summary and transcript to 65 recipients. The transcript contained sensitive personal health information of seven patients. The hospital reported the breach to the Ontario IPC, took steps to contain it, and is implementing further safeguards.
- Company involved
- Unnamed hospital in Ontario
- AI system involved
- Otter.ai
6 source articles · read the reporting →
Hundreds of AI tools built for covid proved unfit for clinical use
During the covid-19 pandemic, researchers worldwide developed hundreds of AI tools to diagnose or triage patients. Multiple reviews, including studies in the British Medical Journal and Nature Machine Intelligence, found that none of the 232 diagnostic or prognostic algorithms and 415 deep-learning models examined were fit for clinical use. Some tools were used in hospitals despite a lack of proper testing, and researchers fear they may have harmed patients. The failures are attributed to poor data quality, methodological errors, and a lack of collaboration between AI developers and clinicians.
- Company involved
- Various hospitals and private developers
- AI system involved
- Multiple unnamed AI diagnostic and prognostic tools
1 source article · read the reporting →
Data Center Caught Watering Its Lavish Lawn While Human Neighbors Are on Year-Long Water Restriction - Futurism
The AI data center irrigated its lawn copiously during drought restrictions, impacting local residents who are under mandatory water conservation.
- Company involved
- CoreSite
1 source article · read the reporting →
Maryland residents to pay $1.6 billion more in power bills due to out-of-state data centers: complaint
Maryland's Office of People's Counsel filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission against grid operator PJM, saying its cost allocation would make Maryland households pay about $1.6 billion over a decade for transmission built to serve data centres in other states, from which they do not benefit.
- Company involved
- PJM Interconnection
- AI system involved
- Transmission cost allocation for data centres
1 source article · read the reporting →
'It's like we don't exist': Nearly 50,000 Lake Tahoe residents face power loss as utility redirects lines to data centers
NV Energy told Liberty Utilities, which serves about 49,000 Lake Tahoe residents, that it will stop supplying power after May 2027 because it needs the capacity for data centres. The region has less than a year to find another source of electricity.
- Company involved
- NV Energy
- AI system involved
- Power supply to Lake Tahoe
1 source article · read the reporting →
A data center drained 30M gallons of water unnoticed — until residents complained about low water pressure
Residents of the Annelise Park subdivision in Fayetteville, Georgia, noticed unusually low water pressure. The county utility found two industrial water hookups feeding the QTS data centre campus, one installed without its knowledge and one not billed, and charged QTS $147,474 for more than 29 million gallons of unaccounted-for water, far above the agreed peak limit. QTS paid and said the unmetered use happened during a switch to smart meters.
- Company involved
- QTS (Quality Technology Services)
- AI system involved
- Fayetteville data centre campus
1 source article · read the reporting →
Sterling Resident Says Data Center's Generators Produced Excessive Noise, Pollution
After a power failure, Vantage Data Centers ran its backup generators in Sterling, Virginia, for almost 24 hours on 16–17 July 2026. Resident Greg Pirio measured 60 decibels at his property line, above Loudoun County's 55-decibel night limit, and left his home because the fumes hurt his lungs; the state environmental regulator said it had no power to stop emergency generator use. Neighbours of Vantage's gas-turbine power centre have also put mattresses and plexiglass in their windows against a constant high-pitched whine.
- Company involved
- Vantage Data Centers
- AI system involved
- Sterling data centre generators and power center
2 source articles · read the reporting →
NJ regulators fine data center for gas generators that lack permits - NJ Spotlight News
Operated 62 natural-gas generators without air permits, emitting pollutants and noise affecting nearby residents in Vineland
- Company involved
- DataOne
1 source article · read the reporting →
BOPU: Cheyenne wastewater system polluter was a data center; city temporarily pausing data center discharges
Cheyenne's Board of Public Utilities traced a contamination of the city's wastewater reuse system with the bacterium Cupriavidus gilardii to Goat Systems, a company building an 800,000-square-foot data centre campus reported to be Meta's, and permanently revoked its discharge privileges. The reuse system's start for the year was delayed while the bacteria were flushed out; the city paused discharges from data centres. Meta has appealed the violation notice.
- Company involved
- Goat Systems (Meta data centre contractor)
- AI system involved
- Cheyenne data centre campus
1 source article · read the reporting →
Sleepless in Slough: the residents who fear for their failing health in Europe’s data centre capital - The Nerve
Data centre operations caused noise and vibration disturbances to nearby residents.
- Company involved
- Global Technical Realty
- AI system involved
- GB One
1 source article · read the reporting →
Data Center Is Fined $1.1 Million for Operating 62 Power Generators - The New York Times
The data center operated 62 power generators, affecting neighbors.
1 source article · read the reporting →
Massachusetts residents sue data centre over 27 diesel generators and 16 cooling towers near homes
Ten residents of Lowell, Massachusetts, sued the state environmental regulator and Markley Group over the expansion of Markley's 352,000-square-foot data centre in a dense neighbourhood to 27 diesel backup generators and 16 cooling towers. They cite diesel emissions, industrial noise, cooling-tower mist and dust, and say they were denied a proper chance to challenge the approval.
- Company involved
- Markley Group
- AI system involved
- Lowell data centre
1 source article · read the reporting →
SA Health aged care AI trial generated 12,000 false alarms, missed real fall
A trial of AI-powered CCTV in two South Australian aged care facilities produced over 12,000 false alerts in a year, causing staff alert fatigue. The system, intended to detect falls and abuse, was overly sensitive and misidentified normal movements as incidents. At least one genuine resident fall went unresponded to because staff were overwhelmed. South Australia's health minister described the rollout as 'botched'.
- Company involved
- SA Health
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Stanford vaccine algorithm excluded frontline resident doctors
Resident physicians at Stanford Medical Center protested after only seven out of over 1,300 were prioritised for the first 5,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Hospital leadership blamed the unequal distribution plan on a "very complex algorithm", which used a points-based formula that researchers suspect used flawed proxies for COVID-19 risk. The algorithm reportedly failed to account for direct patient exposure and disadvantaged rotating residents. Following widespread backlash, Stanford apologised and stated it would revise its distribution plan, while some residents obtained vaccinations elsewhere.
- Company involved
- Stanford Medical Center
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Montefiore Allegedly Plans to Replace Nurses with AI for Insurance Reviews
The New York State Nurses Association alleges that Montefiore Health System plans to lay off 12 utilization review nurses and replace them with AI-powered software from Datavant. The union warns that the move could compromise patient care by having AI review insurance denials without clinical judgement. Montefiore denies the claims, stating they are investing in technology for better outcomes. The plan has sparked a town hall and calls from elected officials to halt the layoffs.
- Company involved
- Montefiore Health System
3 source articles · read the reporting →
IBM Watson for Oncology recommended unsafe cancer treatments
Internal IBM documents reveal that its Watson for Oncology system often provided erroneous cancer treatment advice, including 'multiple examples of unsafe and incorrect treatment recommendations'. The problems were attributed to training on a small number of synthetic cases and the expertise of a few specialists rather than real patient data or established guidelines. The system was promoted to hospitals and physicians worldwide. It is unclear whether any patients were harmed as a result.
- Company involved
- IBM
- AI system involved
- Watson for Oncology
2 source articles · read the reporting →
California vaccine equity algorithm may exclude 2 million vulnerable residents
An ACLU of Northern California analysis alleges that California's Department of Public Health used an algorithm, built by Blue Shield, that allocates additional COVID-19 vaccine supply based on ZIP codes rather than census tracts. The analysis found that this approach could leave over 2 million people living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, disproportionately communities of colour, without prioritised access to the vaccine. The ACLU called on the state to review the affected areas and explain how it will ensure these residents are not left behind.
- Company involved
- California Department of Public Health
- AI system involved
- Healthy Places Index
1 source article · read the reporting →
Royal Free London publishes audit into Streams app data processing
The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust published an audit into its use of the Streams app, following an investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in July 2017. The Streams app alerts clinicians to patients at risk of acute kidney injury. The audit, conducted by Linklaters, concluded that the trust's use of Streams was lawful and complied with data protection laws, although areas for improvement were identified. The ICO later recognised that the trust had completed all required actions.
- Company involved
- Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
- AI system involved
- Streams
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Eight Sleep Pod outage disrupts users' sleep after AWS failure
An AWS outage impacted Eight Sleep Pod users, disrupting their sleep as the smart bed's features became unavailable. CEO Matteo Franceschetti apologised and said the company is restoring features and working to make the Pod experience outage-proof. Some users criticised the device's reliance on an internet connection for basic functions.
- Company involved
- Eight Sleep
- AI system involved
- Eight Sleep Pod
3 source articles · read the reporting →
Nurse at St. Rose Dominican Hospital Averts AI-Sepsis Alert Error
A nurse at St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson, Nevada, refused to follow an AI-generated sepsis alert that would have given an elderly dialysis patient IV fluids, which could have caused a life-threatening complication. The alert, part of the hospital's electronic system, prompted a charge nurse to order the fluids despite the patient's compromised kidneys. A physician intervened and ordered dopamine instead, averting harm. The incident highlights concerns about AI tools overriding clinical judgment.
- Company involved
- St. Rose Dominican Hospital
1 source article · read the reporting →
Google's Nightingale project transfers medical data of millions without patient knowledge
An anonymous Google whistleblower states that the company acquired medical data of 50 million patients from Ascension without their knowledge. The transfer, known as Project Nightingale, raised privacy and security concerns. The article reports that a federal inquiry was launched into whether HIPAA protections were followed.
- Company involved
- Google
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Epic sepsis prediction algorithm misses two-thirds of cases, study finds
A study of nearly 30,000 patients at University of Michigan hospitals found that Epic Systems' sepsis prediction algorithm missed two-thirds of sepsis cases and frequently issued false alarms. The algorithm, used by over 100 US health systems, is designed to alert staff to potential sepsis, but the study suggests it provides little value and may contribute to alert fatigue. Epic disputed the study's conclusions, claiming its system has helped save lives.
- Company involved
- Epic Systems
- AI system involved
- Epic sepsis prediction model
6 source articles · read the reporting →
New York City's McKinsey-led jail violence program manipulated data, violence increased
New York City paid McKinsey & Company $27.5 million to reduce violence at Rikers Island jail complex. McKinsey designed a predictive algorithm called the Housing Unit Balancer and Restart housing units, but jail officials and McKinsey consultants stacked the units with compliant inmates to artificially lower violence numbers. Violence actually increased by nearly 50% during the project. The city eventually decided to close Rikers.
- Company involved
- New York City Department of Correction
- AI system involved
- Housing Unit Balancer (HUB)
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Hospitals use Epic AI to predict Covid-19 decline without validation
Dozens of hospitals across the US are using Epic's deterioration index AI system to predict which Covid-19 patients will become critically ill, despite the tool not being validated for the new disease. The rapid deployment during the pandemic bypassed normal testing and validation processes.
- AI system involved
- Deterioration index
9 source articles · read the reporting →
