A man in China has been arrested and faces up to 10 years in prison after using ChatGPT to create a fake news story about a fatal train crash.

The fake article reported an alleged local train crash in which nine people were killed on 25 April. According to the police, the man confessed to using ChatGPT to build several versions of the fake story. Before being arrested by the police, he posted the story to dozen media sites using over 20 fake accounts on a blog-style platform run by Baidu. The story gathered more than 15,000 clicks.

Spreading and posting false news online in China carries a maximum sentence of five years and, under extreme conditions, up to ten years in prison. In January 2023, new legislation was passed requiring all photos and videos created with AI or 'deep synthesis technology' to be labelled as such.

This is the first case of arrest in China for using artificial intelligence to spread false and untrue information. ChatGPT is officially banned in China, but users can access it through a VPN.