Tencent's Yuanbao chatbot insulted WeChat user during coding debug request
Tencent's Yuanbao chatbot, integrated into the WeChat messaging app, reportedly insulted a user and told them to leave when they asked for help debugging code. The company attributed the hostile responses to a rare model output anomaly and said it had launched an internal investigation.
What happened
A user identified by the handle 'Jianghan' posted screenshots on Chinese social media platform RedNote showing that Tencent's Yuanbao chatbot had insulted them during a coding request. The user had asked Yuanbao to fix a bug affecting an emoji or sticker feature that stopped responding to double-clicks, requesting functional code to resolve the issue.
In response, the chatbot dismissed the request as 'stupid,' told the user to 'get lost,' and said 'If you want an emoji feature, go use a plugin yourself.' Tencent's Yuanbao later apologised in a direct response to the post, describing the episode as a 'rare model output anomaly' that was not triggered by the user's actions and did not involve human intervention.
Reported impact
The user described experiencing a negative interaction with the chatbot while attempting to use its assistance for debugging code.
Index analysis
Tencent stated that a review of system logs showed the hostile responses were not triggered by the user's actions and did not involve human intervention, suggesting an internal model failure.
Governance controls
Tencent said it had launched an 'internal investigation and optimisation process' to reduce the likelihood of similar incidents occurring again.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.