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Global annual number of reported artificial intelligence incidents and controversies

What you should know about this indicator

  • The AI Incident Database (AIID) collects reports of cases where AI systems have caused or nearly caused harm.
  • Incidents include a wide range of harms, such as harmful AI-generated content, deepfake impersonation, biased facial recognition leading to wrongful arrests, and accidents involving AI systems.
  • Entries are reviewed by human editors based on publicly available sources, including academic research and investigative journalism.
  • Because reporting relies on publicly available sources, incidents are likely undercounted, especially in regions with less media coverage.
  • The database is continuously updated, including for past years, so figures may change over time and may not match the latest totals reported by AIID.
Global annual number of reported artificial intelligence incidents and controversies
The number of reported incidents where AI systems caused or nearly caused harm.
Source
AI Incident Database via AI Index Report (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Last updated
April 20, 2026
Next expected update
April 2027
Date range
2012–2025
Unit
incidents

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

AI Index Report

The AI Index Report tracks, collates, distills, and visualizes data related to artificial intelligence (AI). The mission is to provide unbiased, rigorously vetted, broadly sourced data to enable policymakers, researchers, executives, journalists, and the general public to develop a more thorough and nuanced understanding of the complex field of AI.

Retrieved on
April 20, 2026
Retrieved from
https://hai.stanford.edu/assets/files/ai_index_report_2026.pdf
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Sha Sajadieh, Loredana Fattorini, Raymond Perrault, Yolanda Gil, Vanessa Parli, Lapo Santarlasci, Juan Pava, Nestor Maslej, Russ Altman, Erik Brynjolfsson, Carla Brodley, Jack Clark, Virginia Dignum, Vipin Kumar, James Landay, Terah Lyons, James Manyika, Juan Carlos Niebles, Yoav Shoham, Elham Tabassi, Russell Wald, Toby Walsh, Dan Weld. “The AI Index 2026 Annual Report,” AI Index Steering Committee, Institute for Human-Centered AI, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, April 2026.

The AI Index Report tracks, collates, distills, and visualizes data related to artificial intelligence (AI). The mission is to provide unbiased, rigorously vetted, broadly sourced data to enable policymakers, researchers, executives, journalists, and the general public to develop a more thorough and nuanced understanding of the complex field of AI.

Retrieved on
April 20, 2026
Retrieved from
https://hai.stanford.edu/assets/files/ai_index_report_2026.pdf
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Sha Sajadieh, Loredana Fattorini, Raymond Perrault, Yolanda Gil, Vanessa Parli, Lapo Santarlasci, Juan Pava, Nestor Maslej, Russ Altman, Erik Brynjolfsson, Carla Brodley, Jack Clark, Virginia Dignum, Vipin Kumar, James Landay, Terah Lyons, James Manyika, Juan Carlos Niebles, Yoav Shoham, Elham Tabassi, Russell Wald, Toby Walsh, Dan Weld. “The AI Index 2026 Annual Report,” AI Index Steering Committee, Institute for Human-Centered AI, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, April 2026.

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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Global annual number of reported artificial intelligence incidents and controversies”, part of the following publication: Charlie Giattino, Edouard Mathieu, Veronika Samborska, and Max Roser (2023) - “Artificial Intelligence”. Data adapted from AI Index Report. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260424-104218/grapher/annual-reported-ai-incidents-controversies.html [online resource] (archived on April 24, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

AI Incident Database via AI Index Report (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data

Full citation

AI Incident Database via AI Index Report (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Global annual number of reported artificial intelligence incidents and controversies” [dataset]. AI Index Report, “AI Index Report” [original data]. Retrieved April 24, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260424-104218/grapher/annual-reported-ai-incidents-controversies.html (archived on April 24, 2026).

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