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Louise Matsakis: Oh god, you wouldn’t see me in the office for weeks if there was a bedbug infestation. How did you find out about it?
Zoë Schiffer: Basically, they got this email on Sunday saying that exterminators with sniffer dogs had arrived at the scene and “found credible evidence of their presence.” There are the bed bugs. Sources tell WIRED that Google’s New York offices are home to a number of large stuffed animals, and there was definitely a rumor circulating among employees that these stuffed animals were involved in the outbreak. We weren’t able to verify this information before publication, but the company definitely told employees as early as Monday morning that they could come back to the office. And people like you, Louise, really weren’t happy about it. They said, “I’m not sure it’s completely clean here.” That’s why they were in our inboxes and wanted to chat.
Louise Matsakis: Can I just say that please contact me and Zoë if you have photos or a description of the large stuffed animals. Thank you very much.
Zoë Schiffer: Yes. This is a cry for help. I thought the best part was when I gave Louise my draft, she said, “Wait, this has happened before.” And in 2010, accessed an article about a bug outbreak at Google’s offices in New York.
Louise Matsakis: Yes. This isn’t the first time, which is heartbreaking.
Zoë Schiffer: After the break, we’ll address the question of why some people mentally filed complaints with the FTC about ChatGPT, which led them to AI psychosis. Stay with us.
Welcome back to Uncanny Valley. I’m Zoë Schiffer. Today I’m with WIRED’s Louise Matsakis. Let’s dive into our main story this week. The Federal Trade Commission received 200 complaints about OpenAI’s ChatGPT between November 2022, when it was launched, and August 2025. Most people had normal symptoms. They didn’t know how to cancel their subscription or were frustrated by unsatisfactory or inaccurate answers from the chatbot. But among those complaints, our colleague Caroline Haskins found that several people attributed delusions, paranoia, and spiritual crises to the chatbot.
