Malicious useCenter for AI Safety§2.4

AI helps a few concentrate power through surveillance

Early signs1 matching case file

The warning

AI-powered surveillance, censorship and propaganda could let small groups lock in control over society.

Paraphrased from the paper. Source: An Overview of Catastrophic AI Risks, Center for AI Safety, Section 2.4, page 11.

What the registry shows

One case: accounts linked to China used ChatGPT to build a tool that reports on protests abroad to the authorities. Most state surveillance never surfaces as a public security incident.

Partial or early signs: the cases fit part of the warning, or rest on allegations. First real-world case on file: Feb 21, 2025.

Status history

Date	Status	Matching case files	Change
Oct 18, 2026	Early signs	1	Tracking starts

Tracked since Oct 18, 2026. A line is added when the status changes, when the first real-world case is linked, and once a month, so the record shows when a warning moved from research to reality. research_history.json

All matching case files

Feb 21, 2025OpenAI bans China-linked Peer Review network building Qianyue social-media monitoring tool

Other warnings in this group

Nothing on record yet AI makes biological weapons easier to build
Seen in real incidents People will set AI agents loose to cause harm
Seen in real incidents AI floods the information space with tailored lies
Seen in real incidents People's trust in AI companions turns harmful

Research vs reality →

How we match: a case file is linked to a warning when what happened is a real-world instance of the risk the paper describes, judged by the editors from the facts in the case file. A match means the case fits the warning, not that it proves the paper's wider argument. Allegations in lawsuits are labelled as allegations. Statuses are editorial and reviewed as new cases arrive. The matching is recomputed on every update. Data: Systematic coverage in the registry starts in 2025, so a first-case date shows when the registry first recorded the risk, not when it first happened. research.json (CC BY 4.0)