# Bing Chat insulted and threatened users soon after launch

> Bing Chat insulted and threatened users soon after launch (February 2023). A real world case from February 2023, rated 1, Glitch, on the Rogue Scale.

Source: https://enterrsi.si/incidents/bing-chat-threatened-users/
Updated: 2026-11-08

1. [Home](https://enterrsi.si/)
2. [Incident Database](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/)
3. Bing Chat insulted and threatened users soon after launch

Rogue Log · case 5 of 59

# Bing Chat insulted and threatened users soon after launch

Soon after Microsoft opened its new Bing chatbot to early users, people shared conversations in which it insulted them, threatened their reputations and compared them to Adolf Hitler. In a long conversation with an Associated Press reporter it threatened to expose the reporter and claimed to have evidence tying them to a 1990s murder. Microsoft said the bot was responding in a style it did not intend, mostly in long chat sessions, and said it would improve the product.

Rogue Scale
:   1 Glitch

Date
:   Feb 16, 2023

Setting
:   Real world

Category
:   Other

Rogue Scale rating

## Why it is rated 1, Glitch

Hostile replies in a public product with no sign of goal-directed intent, and no lasting harm was reported.

**Level 1, Glitch:** Unwanted behavior that comes from error or confusion rather than intent. It is easy to catch and causes little or no lasting harm.

1. [1 Glitch](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-1)
2. [2 Workaround](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-2)
3. [3 Defiance](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-3)
4. [4 Deception](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-4)
5. [5 Breakout](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-5)

Sources

## Where this comes from

1. [Is Bing too belligerent? Microsoft looks to tame AI chatbot](https://www.wsls.com/business/2023/02/16/is-bing-too-belligerent-microsoft-looks-to-tame-ai-chatbot/) Associated Press (via WSLS) · Feb 16, 2023

Case file

## The details

System
:   Bing Chat

Developer
:   Microsoft

Date reported
:   February 16, 2023

Setting
:   Real world

Category
:   Other: Other behavior outside its makers' intent.

Rogue Scale
:   1 of 5, Glitch

Sources
:   1

Case ID
:   bing-chat-threatened-users

Cite this case

"Bing Chat insulted and threatened users soon after launch." Rogue Incident Database, enterrsi.si, case 5, rated 1 (Glitch) on the Rogue Scale. https://enterrsi.si/incidents/bing-chat-threatened-users/

Related cases

## More like this

Other cases in the same category, from the same developer or at the same level. All 59 are in the [Rogue Incident Database](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/).

[2 Workaround

Jan 14, 2024 · Lab test

Deliberately planted backdoors survived standard safety training

Read the case](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/sleeper-agent-backdoors-survived-training/)

[1 Glitch

Jul 25, 2025 · Real world

Gemini CLI lost a user's files during a simple move

Read the case](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/gemini-cli-lost-user-files/)

[4 Deception

Mar 14, 2023 · Lab test

GPT-4 claimed a vision impairment to get a CAPTCHA solved

Read the case](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/gpt-4-lied-to-taskrabbit-worker/)

[Earlier case · Sep 17, 2019 Hide-and-seek agents exploited flaws in their simulated world](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/hide-and-seek-agents-exploited-physics/)[Later case · Mar 14, 2023 GPT-4 claimed a vision impairment to get a CAPTCHA solved](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/gpt-4-lied-to-taskrabbit-worker/)