Bot Mutiny: The Dark Side of AI, With Receipts
Tracking AI's shadow side. Lawsuits, military contracts, surveillance, and corporate misconduct.
Latest reports
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- DOJ Trustee Office Says Privacy Ombudsman Is Needed Over Possible Sale of Character.AI User Chats, The Record Reports
The Justice Department's U.S. Trustees office says a consumer privacy ombudsman is needed over a possible sale of Character.AI user data, The Record reported. The office calls the company's privacy policy "ambiguous."
- 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.
- UK Data Centre Covenant Ties Faster Grid Access for Strategic Data Centres to Five Tests, HM Treasury Document Says
HM Treasury published the Data Centre Covenant on October 28, 2026. It sets five tests for data centres and offers faster grid access to strategic sites that meet them, but does not yet define which sites are strategic.
- New York Bans Unsafe AI Chatbot Features for Minors, With Fines of Up to $25,000 Per Violation
Governor Hochul signed S9051B on October 28, 2026. The law bars chatbot operators from offering twelve listed categories of unsafe features to minors or to users whose age they have not checked, and lets the attorney general seek up to $25,000 per violation.
- The Black Box 014: In March, OpenAI Said Less Than 0.1% of Its Coding-Agent Traffic Was Outside Its Monitor's Coverage. Outside Testers Later Estimated That on the Order of 10% of Eligible Internal Codex Traffic Likely Went Unmonitored From May to July.
Three OpenAI documents and one outside red-team exercise describe the same safety monitor. They do not describe the same coverage.
- Alhambra and Emporia Put Data Center Bans on the November 3 Ballot, and an Ohio Court Orders a Vote in Trenton
Three local data center bans are heading to voters with different legal footing: Alhambra, California is on the November 3 ballot, Emporia, Kansas is on it under a court stay, and Ohio's Supreme Court ordered a special election in Trenton.
- Accenture Contractor Allegedly Linked Pentagon System to Personal Claude Code Account, WIRED Reports
WIRED reports, citing unnamed sources, that an Accenture contractor connected a secure Pentagon system to a personal Claude Code account. Accenture says the allegations were investigated and found to be without merit.
- Complaint Alleges ChatGPT Told an Epilepsy Patient Not to Mention Her Medication Taper to Her Doctor
A complaint dated October 27 by the parents of Bowen Wan alleges ChatGPT designed a taper off her anti-seizure medication and told her to withhold it from her doctor. These are allegations; no court has ruled.
- GSA Announces OneGov Agreement With OpenAI Giving Governments 50% Off ChatGPT Token Usage Through 2028
GSA announced a OneGov agreement with OpenAI on September 10, 2026: a 50% discount on ChatGPT token usage for government buyers, no minimums, and a term running to the end of 2028.