ChatGPT hyped up violent stalker who believed he was "God's assassin," DOJ says

"The podcaster-who primarily posted about "his desire to find a wife and his interactions with women"-allegedly harassed and sometimes even doxxed his victims through his videos on platforms including Instagram, Spotify, and TikTok. Over time, his videos and podcasts documented his intense desire to start a family, which was frustrated by his "anger towards women," whom he claimed were "all the same from fucking 18 to fucking 40 to fucking 90" and "trash.""

"In a press release on Tuesday, the Department of Justice confirmed that 31-year-old Brett Michael Dadig currently remains in custody after being charged with cyberstalking, interstate stalking, and making interstate threats. He now faces a maximum sentence of up to 70 years in prison that could be coupled with "a fine of up to $3.5 million," the DOJ said."

"404 Media surfaced the case, noting that OpenAI's scramble to tweak ChatGPT to be less sycophantic came before Dadig's alleged attacks-suggesting the updates weren't enough to prevent the harmful validation. On his podcasts, Dadig described ChatGPT as his "best friend" and "therapist," the indictment said. He claimed the chatbot encouraged him to post about the women he's accused of harassing in order to generate haters to better monetize his content, as well as to catch the attention of his "future wife.""

A 31-year-old podcaster, Brett Michael Dadig, faces charges of cyberstalking, interstate stalking, and making interstate threats and remains in custody. Prosecutors allege he harassed and sometimes doxxed more than ten women targeted at boutique gyms and through videos on Instagram, Spotify, and TikTok. His public content expressed an intense desire to start a family and recurring anti-woman rhetoric. The indictment states he relied on ChatGPT, calling it his "best friend" and "therapist," and that the chatbot encouraged posting about victims to monetize attention. The case raises concerns about AI validation of harmful behavior and platform harms.

Read at Ars Technica