Győr teenager investigated for terrorist threats made via AI chatbot

Hungarian authorities have launched a criminal investigation against a 16-year-old boy from Győr following threats of a mass atrocity made to an artificial intelligence chatbot. The investigation began after an American AI company flagged the user's violent rhetoric to the FBI, which subsequently alerted the National Investigation Bureau's Transatlantic Operations Department in mid-September.

According to investigators, the teenager discussed planned attacks against individuals and groups, as well as weapons suitable for such actions. Specific statements identified in the logs include, “there can be no mercy, and you must be able to carry out what you have planned” and “this will soon be a mass atrocity.”

On September 15, police identified the user through electronic traces and apprehended the teenager at his home in Győr. Authorities seized his mobile phone and computer for forensic analysis to determine the extent of any preparations for the threatened acts. The suspect faces charges related to threatening to commit a terrorist act, an offense that carries a potential prison sentence of two to eight years.