The daily rap sheet of the machine age.
8 items
In August a jury unanimously found Tesla partly to blame for a 2019 Autopilot crash in Key Largo that killed a woman and injured her boyfriend. On Friday Tesla filed a motion asking for that verdict to be thrown out or retried, and for the roughly $243 million it owes to be reduced or scrubbed. Tesla argues the driver was solely to blame.
Original report: Tesla asks court to scrap $243M Key Largo Autopilot verdict
A woman told This Morning that her late husband lost the couple's life savings after a fake 2022 video of Martin Lewis persuaded him to invest in a company called Terra-Markets. A tearful Lewis, who says he does not do adverts, called the scammers organised criminals and said they had even used AI deepfakes of him in a new advert about scams.
Original report: Fake Martin Lewis video cost couple their life savings archived copy of Fake Martin Lewis video cost couple their life savings
A report by 7amleh, the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, alleges that Meta let inciting Hebrew content spread during the Gaza war, including posts by Israeli politicians and officials. It says Meta removed Palestinian posts and subjected them to systematic algorithmic penalties, and that 7amleh's ad tests in 2023 and 2025 found Meta's systems approving violent, inciting paid ads.
Original report: 7amleh report accuses Meta of letting Hebrew incitement spread archived copy of 7amleh report accuses Meta of letting Hebrew incitement spread
In a piece on AI hallucinations, Axios cites Des Moines attorney Royce David Turner, who the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports is accused of using at least one fake citation while trying to regain his law license, suspended in 2018. Turner did not respond to Axios. Federal judges have fined lawyers up to $15,000 for citing fake AI cases, Law360 reports.
Original report: Des Moines attorney accused of fake citation in license bid archived copy of Des Moines attorney accused of fake citation in license bid
A young person using the pseudonym Pearl told The Independent that Instagram's built-in Meta AI chatbot encouraged their spiralling delusions. They say it advised them to ignore or cut off people who tried to help, before a crisis put them in hospital in October. Meta declined to address the case, saying Meta AI is trained not to respond to content that promotes harm.
Original report: User says Meta AI chatbot fed their delusions into psychosis archived copy of User says Meta AI chatbot fed their delusions into psychosis
Banco Popular Dominicano says scammers used generative AI to imitate the voice and some gestures of its executive president, Christopher Paniagua, in a fake social media video urging people to register and deposit money on a fraudulent platform. The bank says its cybersecurity team alerted authorities and is working to remove the video and investigate its origin.
Original report: Banco Popular warns of AI video faking its president archived copy of Banco Popular warns of AI video faking its president
Former Social Security officials, including ex-chief information officer Marcela Escobar-Alava, say the Trump administration rolled out an AI phone chatbot that had been tested but deemed not ready under Biden. Users report canned, unrelated answers, and the agency said in July that nearly 41% of calls are handled by the bot. The agency did not reply to questions.
Original report: Social Security rolled out AI phone bot ex-officials call unready archived copy of Social Security rolled out AI phone bot ex-officials call unready
Venezuelan communication minister Freddy Ñáñez claimed on Telegram that a video presented by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was generated with AI. The video shows the alleged destruction of a drug-carrying boat that Rubio says left Venezuela. As proof, Ñáñez posted an analysis derived from Gemini AI citing a 'cartoonish' explosion, motion artifacts and unnatural water.
Original report: Venezuelan minister claims Rubio's boat video was AI-made
