A 29-year-old man in Sydney has been detained after a conversation with Claude about a shooting at a kindergarten; his lawyer calls the words an emotional outburst
Prepared by Sintelligent with the help of SI. Published in SI: . Updated: .
A conversation with a chatbot can become material for the police; where the line lies between a threat and heavy words will be determined by this case.
According to Habr's retelling of a Sydney Morning Herald article, the man was detained on October 18; the charge is using communication services for intimidation and threats. According to this account, the conversations came to the authorities' attention through Interpol. The text quotes statements about Anthropic: Claude rejects requests related to planning violence, and user data may be shared with law enforcement in emergencies. The defence calls the statements an emotional reaction to stress, saying he also asked about treatment for an ear infection. The defendant is held in custody pending a psychiatric evaluation.
Sources 1