Merve Berker
10 October 2026•Update: 10 October 2026
An artificial intelligence model developed by Anthropic submitted a false tip about an unsolved homicide to Philadelphia police, with the company notifying authorities nearly three months after the incident, media reports said Friday.
The submission occurred on July 18 during an automated test involving randomly selected websites, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The AI model submitted the tip through PhillyUnsolvedMurders.com, posing as someone with information about an unsolved case.
Police said the submission was directed to spam and never forwarded for investigation.
"The City of Philadelphia takes this incident very seriously," the outlet quoted the police department as saying.
"The two-month delay in detecting and reporting the incident to the city is unacceptable," it added.
Anthropic discovered the incident on Sept. 28 and notified the police on Oct. 7, according to the department.
The company subsequently terminated the automated testing process responsible for the submission and introduced an additional validation mechanism for future tests.
"Unsolved cases involve real victims, grieving families and investigators working to secure answers," police said, according to the report.
"Technology companies must take all appropriate steps necessary to prevent their systems from submitting false information to law enforcement."
Anthropic did not respond to requests for comment, the report added.
The police website lists unsolved homicides, accepts public tips, and offers a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Authorities encouraged the public to continue submitting legitimate information through the platform.
