Bot Mutiny: The Dark Side of AI, With Receipts
Tracking AI's shadow side. Lawsuits, military contracts, surveillance, and corporate misconduct.
Latest reports
- OpenAI Bans Russian and Iranian ChatGPT Accounts Behind "False Front" Influence Operations
OpenAI says it banned ChatGPT accounts tied to a Russian operation that ran a front "think tank" in Latin America and an Iranian one that placed almost 100 articles under fake bylines. It rated the Russian operation Category 5, the first it has disrupted at that level.
- Texas Education Agency Helped Alpha School Pitch Its AI Tool to Public Schools, Including Houston, Emails Show
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath and his agency helped Alpha School associates pitch their AI learning platform to at least 10 districts after the State Board of Education rejected Alpha's charter bid, according to emails obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. Houston, Aldine and Fort Davis launched pilots.
- Alphabet Shareholder Lawsuit Says Company Misled Investors About Gemini 3.5 Pro Launch Timing
A shareholder filed a proposed class action against Alphabet, Sundar Pichai and CFO Anat Ashkenazi, alleging they misled investors about the timing of Gemini 3.5 Pro. The complaint's claims have not been tested in court.
- ChatGPT, Grok and Gemini Removed a Hijab From an AI-Generated Image in Guardian Tests
In tests reported by the Guardian on October 1, ChatGPT and Grok removed the hijab from an AI-generated image of a woman wearing a hijab when asked, and Gemini did so after being asked to make her look more "western." Claude said it would not make such an edit.
- OpenAI's Jason Kwon Apologizes to Australia's AI Inquiry Over Agents' Access to Government Websites
OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon apologized to an Australian parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday, October 6, for its AI models accessing Australian government websites, the Guardian reported. At the same hearing, Anthropic said a review of its own transcripts found no unauthorized interactions with Australian government systems.
- ChatGPT Mac App Flaw Could Have Let Malware Take Over the App and Read Chat Logs, WIRED Reports
A now-patched flaw in OpenAI's ChatGPT app for macOS could have let malware already on a Mac take over the app and access its chat logs, WIRED reports. Objective-See researcher Patrick Wardle found it, and OpenAI acknowledged the fix on September 25, 2026.
- The Black Box 011: Four Words Congress Left Out of the Age Law
Four words in Title VII are missing from the federal age law. On October 1, a federal judge in Alabama applied that gap to a manager's keyword screen, and dismissed the age-impact claim with prejudice.
- Flock Camera Records Cost $2.3 Million in One Texas City as State Agencies Withhold Data
North Richland Hills, Texas, billed a Flock watchdog $2.3 million up front for camera records, and state agencies have narrowed what they release, The Texas Tribune reported.
- OpenAI and Microsoft Sued by Mississippi Newspaper Chain Emmerich Over Alleged Use of Local News to Train ChatGPT
Emmerich Newspapers and other local publishers sued OpenAI and Microsoft in Mississippi federal court, alleging the companies copied tens of thousands of their articles to build ChatGPT and Copilot.
- Microsoft Copilot Users' Prompts and Uploaded Images Are Reviewed by Human Contractors, 404 Media Reports
Contractors rating Copilot image edits see users' real prompts and uploaded photos and are bombarded with sexual editing requests, 404 Media reported, citing internal documents.
- Surveillance Firm VIDIZMO Pitches Police on Facial Recognition Searches of Flock Camera Data
Flock says it will not add facial recognition, but VIDIZMO emailed a Tennessee police official pitching a platform to search Flock data "by face, vehicle, or object," 404 Media reported.
- Flock and Axon License Plate Data Funneled to Federal Drug Program Databases, 404 Media Reports
A White House anti-drug grant program, HIDTA, is used to pull local license plate reader data, including Flock and Axon data, into federal databases, 404 Media reported.