Japan: Teenager arrested for allegedly using ChatGPT to develop a program that disrupted thousands of accounts

Japanese authorities arrested a 15-year-old teenager on suspicion of involvement in a cyberattack targeting an anime streaming platform, after he used artificial intelligence tools to help develop a program accused of causing the deletion of tens of thousands of user accounts and disrupting the service for more than a month. Al Arabiya Business cited Japanese and British media reports stating that police charged him with fraudulent obstruction of business.

According to investigations, the attack led to the deletion of approximately 46,812 accounts on a well-known platform without the knowledge of their owners.

The suspect admitted that he wrote the core part of the code himself, then used ChatGPT to help refine and complete it using a different programming language. Authorities also noted that he changed his Internet Protocol (IP) address several times to continue executing the attack after measures were taken to stop it.

The incident forced the company to suspend its services for more than a month and refund affected users, while authorities launched a broad investigation into the case. The case highlights the security challenges associated with the misuse of AI tools, emphasizing that these tools themselves are not designed or intended to carry out illegal activities; rather, it depends on how they are used.