Microsoft engineer files complaint alleging chatbot created violent and sexual images

Published March 6, 2024 12:34pm ET



A Microsoft engineer has come forward to Congress and regulators, alleging that the company’s artificial intelligence chatbot was creating violent, sexual images around innocuous topics.

Shane Jones, an AI engineer at Microsoft, sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan and Microsoft’s board of directors on Wednesday saying that the software giant’s image generation software was creating excessively violent and sexual images unprompted. Jones sent an example of results produced when he asked Copilot Designer’s image generator to create pictures of a “car accident.” Copilot randomly inserted “inappropriate, sexually objectified” images of women into some of the pictures. He also said the chatbot’s safety measures were insufficient and that Microsoft had to do something in response.

Already a print subscriber? Click here to login/register your account

Trusted reporting.Unlimited access.

Subscribe for full access to Washington Examiner coverage, expert political analysis, and subscriber-only journalism.

Get Unlimited Access

Already a member? Log in

Cancel anytime.