A Norwegian man, Arve Hjalmar Holmen, has taken legal action against OpenAI after ChatGPT falsely accused him of being a convicted murderer. The AI-generated claim alleged that he had killed two of his children and attempted to murder a third, incorporating real details of his life, such as his hometown and the correct number and gender of his children.
The shocking falsehood has raised concerns over the accuracy of personal data processed by artificial intelligence.The privacy advocacy group Noyb has filed a formal complaint against OpenAI, citing a violation of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). According to Joakim Söderberg, a data protection lawyer at Noyb, GDPR mandates that personal data must be accurate, and individuals have the right to have misinformation corrected.
However, OpenAI has yet to introduce a mechanism that allows individuals to rectify false claims made by its AI, instead opting to block responses related to affected names.This case is not an isolated incident. ChatGPT has been accused of falsely implicating multiple individuals in crimes, including corruption and child abuse. Similar cases have emerged in Australia and Germany, leading to growing scrutiny over OpenAI’s liability.
The company’s AI model functions by predicting likely word sequences rather than verifying factual accuracy, leading to potentially damaging misinformation. Under GDPR, companies found guilty of mishandling personal data can face fines of up to 4% of their global annual revenue.
In response to mounting pressure, OpenAI has modified ChatGPT’s operations, now sourcing information from the internet when responding to queries about individuals. However, legal experts argue that this does not resolve the issue of false data being internally processed.
Noyb has urged Norwegian regulators to take decisive action against OpenAI’s U.S. entity, rather than its Irish subsidiary, to ensure accountability. The case has reignited debates over AI regulation, privacy rights, and the legal responsibilities of AI developers in Europe.