{
  "id": 9506429,
  "title": "Instinct's founder says the viral AI agent's hallucinations can spit out what looks like a stranger's data",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/24/instincts-founder-says-the-viral-ai-agents-hallucinations-can-spit",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-24T06:30:54.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/instinct-founder-noah-shinn-ai-agent-hallucinate-stranger-data-leak-2026-9"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Instinct, a viral AI assistant, has raised concerns for users after it allegedly fabricated and amplified a stranger's personal details into a conversation, according to its creator, Noah Shinn. The incident occurred when a user, @prit4k, shared screenshots of their interaction with Instinct, showing the AI assistant disclosing someone else's middle name and mentioning a photo they never sent, which seemed to have crossed into their conversation. Instinct later apologized, stating that the photo was merely a hallucination, fabricated by the AI agent through its reasoning. Shinn confirmed that no user data was shared or isolated boundary violated, attributing the incident to a \"serious glitch.\" Despite the clarification, the user remained skeptical, questioning whether it was a data leak or a hallucination. Shinn's startup, Spear Street, raised $250 million at a $2.5 billion valuation following the AI assistant's surge in popularity this summer.",
  "summary": "Shinn said his team is fixing hallucinations, after a user reported Instinct telling them a photo they never sent had \"crossed into\" their chat.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}