The FBI thwarted a possible school massacre in Argentina after alerting law enforcement that a 15-year-old boy was mapping out an attack — and asked ChatGPT to help plan it.
Quilmes prosecutor Alejandro de Mena told Infobae that the FBI reached out to authorities Aug. 15 after the teen had gone on the artificial intelligence chatbotseveral times to plan an attack at his school, Quilmes prosecutor Alejandro de Mena told Infobae.
The boy initially wanted to carry out the massacre in 2027 and later went back to ChatGPT to seek information on moving up the attack to this month.
FBI agents at the US Embassy in Buenos Aires filed a report with the Interpol and Argentina Federal Police, which probed the alarming development.
Argentina’s Attorney General’s Office granted the Argentina Federal Police a search warrant and allowed authorities to raid the boy’s home and seize two cell phones, including one that was used as a computer.
They also confiscated a mask that he has used to disguise himself in several photographs.
“Often, we are playing catch-up with crime and never manage to get ahead of it before it is committed,” de Mena said.
“In this instance, I believe we managed to get ahead of it before it could actually be carried out.”
de Mena did not specify what type of attack the student was planning, but he did say that authorities didn’t recover any guns during the search of his home.
The Attorney General’s Office has been analyzing the content on his mobile devices to check if any third parties were involved.
The teen’s parents were shocked when the agents showed up at their door, de Mena told Todo Noticias.
“Parents are always surprised at that moment, and often fail to grasp the seriousness of what this could lead to,” he said.
Investigators have been unable to detect any other chat activity related to attacks that may have been planned in other schools, De Mena added.
The Attorney General’s Office has been analyzing the content on his mobile devices to check if any third parties were involved.
de Mena explained that the boy can’t be tried in court because he is considered a minor and that he has yet to be interrogated.
OpenAI and the FBI did not immediately reply to The Post’s request for comment.
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