Description: Multiple AI systems allegedly spread false claims in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's assassination at Utah Valley University. Perplexity and Grok chatbots reportedly stated Kirk was alive, mischaracterized authentic video as satire, and wrongly identified Utah Democrat Michael Mallinson as the suspect. A Google AI Overview allegedly claimed Kirk was on Ukraine's Myrotvorets "enemies" list, a reported falsehood that echoed pro-Kremlin narratives.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: xAI , Perplexity and Google developed an AI system deployed by xAI , Perplexity , Google and Pro-Kremlin actors, which harmed General public , Grok users , Perplexity users , Google users , Michael Mallinson , Family of Charlie Kirk , Epistemic integrity , Journalistic integrity , Journalists and General public of Utah.
Incident Stats
Incident ID
1205
Report Count
1
Incident Date
2025-09-11
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Incident Reports
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**What happened: **False claims surrounding the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk are rapidly spreading as the shooter remains at large, and social media users seeking answers have turned to AI chatbots for clarity.
Instea…
Variants
A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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