ChatGPT is a generative AI tool that has undoubtedly changed the world. This is no small achievement for an instrument released less than three years ago. However, the rapid growth of generative AI has also raised ethical concerns, especially regarding its role in areas such as impersonation, copyright issues, etc.
Now it looks like we may be witnessing one of the first instances of ChatGPT being used to plan an attack. At least that’s what the authorities think. If you’ve been following the news, you’ve probably heard about Tesla Cybertruck explosion occurred last week.
The culprit is US Army Special Forces soldier Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger. Here’s a brief chronology of what happened:
- December 31, 2024: Livelsberger rented a Tesla Cybertruck in Colorado and drove to Las Vegas.
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January 1, 2025:
- 7:30 am PST: He arrived in Las Vegas in a cybertruck equipped with a detonation system consisting of fireworks, gas tanks and fuel.
- 8:39 PST: He parked the Cybertruck at the entrance to the Trump International Hotel. The cybertruck, as you can imagine, exploded, but not before killing himself with a shot to the head.
So where does ChatGPT fit into all of this? Well, Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, says Leavelsberger checked how many explosives he would need to carry out the attack, where to buy a phone without providing personally identifiable information (PII), and where to buy fireworks.
Shortly after the news broke, OpenAI rushed to take damage control measures. AI Heavyweight Representative told CBS News that OpenAI is “cooperating with law enforcement agencies to support their investigation.”
The spokesperson also clarified that the information provided by ChatGPT was already publicly available and that ChatGPT responded to Livelsberger’s requests by “providing warnings about harmful or illegal activity.”
ChatGPT has come a long way since its launch in late 2022. In 2024 alone, OpenAI released many new features and expanded existing ones, such as SearchGPT, for free users. A summary of the main changes to ChatGPT over the past year readable.