Bot Mutiny: The Dark Side of AI, With Receipts
Tracking AI's shadow side. Lawsuits, military contracts, surveillance, and corporate misconduct.
Latest reports
- The Black Box 015: New York's Chatbot Law for Minors Began as a Bill Letting Injured Users Sue for Punitive Damages. The Version Signed Lets One Office Enforce It, at Up to $25,000 a Violation.
Three printed versions of one Albany bill, read side by side, show which enforcement tools reached the statute and which were left behind.
- WA Police Facial Recognition Trial Scanned 1.38 Million Faces, Led to 122 Arrests and Nine Incorrect Alerts, Guardian Reports
Western Australia Police say a five-month real-time facial recognition trial scanned 1,380,882 faces and led to 122 arrests and nine incorrect alerts. Civil Liberties Australia disputes how police calculated the error rate, the Guardian reports.
- Network of 400+ Apps and Domains Posing as Pet Photo and Workout Tools Hid Sexual Deepfake Generators, WIRED Reports
WIRED reports a network of more than 400 apps and domains posing as everyday tools loaded sexual deepfake generators under certain conditions. Apple removed 19 apps; Meta says it banned the operator in 2025.
- Palantir NHS Data Platform: 29 Trusts Listed as Realising Benefits Say It Is Not Live or Not Used, Guardian Reports
The Guardian reports that 29 NHS trusts listed as realising benefits from Palantir's federated data platform said in FOI responses it is not live or unused. NHS England says nearly 140 trusts report benefits.
- The Weekly Mutiny #14: Election Eve
Two stories about Tuesday's election, and three that rest mostly on one party's account.
- Cursor Says Malicious Claude Code Extension on Its Marketplace Tried to Install SSH Backdoor
Cursor says a modified version of Anthropic's Claude Code extension, not made by Anthropic, was on its marketplace on October 29, 2026 and tried to install an SSH backdoor. BleepingComputer says up to 5,000 developers were exposed.
- Judge Denies xAI Motion to Dismiss NAACP Clean Air Act Lawsuit Over Gas Turbines
A federal judge in Mississippi denied xAI's motion to dismiss the NAACP's Clean Air Act suit over its data center gas turbines, TechCrunch and CNBC report. The case now moves forward; the allegations are the plaintiffs'.
- Northflank Tells Customers to Rotate All Secrets After Breach, Reported AI Key Abuse
Northflank told customers to assume their environment variables were decrypted and to rotate all secrets after a security incident, and said users reported unauthorised use of AI API keys. It has not said how many customers are affected, BleepingComputer reports.
- UK CMA Opens Competition Act Investigation Into Meta Terms That Could Let It Use Publishers' Content for Its AI Features, CMA Says
The CMA opened a Competition Act 1998 investigation into Meta's commercial terms for businesses on October 30, 2026. Its press release says the terms could let Meta use publishers' content for its AI features. No finding has been made.
- ChatGPT Cited Sites Posing as Local News That Promote Democratic House Candidates, NPR Finds
NPR found that ChatGPT cited a network of websites made to look like local news outlets in about half of its test responses about competitive House races. NPR could not identify who runs the sites.
- Proton CEO Andy Yen Cancels Staff AI Re-Interviews After 404 Media Investigation, Says He Will Keep Pushing
Proton CEO Andy Yen cancelled nearly company-wide "re-interviews" about employee AI use, according to 404 Media, but told staff he will keep pushing. Employees quoted by the outlet had split reactions.
- OpenAI Says It Made Over 200 Law Enforcement Referrals in Q3 2026 and Plans to Let ChatGPT End Chats That Fixate on Violence, Company Post Says
OpenAI's October 30, 2026 post says it made over 200 law enforcement referrals in Q3 2026 and describes new ChatGPT limits on violence and weapons information, to begin rolling out in the next few weeks. The referral figure is OpenAI's own claim.