West Midlands Police Relied on AI-Generated False Intelligence in Maccabi Tel Aviv Ban
West Midlands Police used Microsoft Copilot to generate intelligence for a football match security assessment, but the AI system fabricated details about a match that never occurred. This false intelligence contributed to a decision to ban away fans, and police initially misled Parliament about how the error arose before acknowledging the AI involvement.
What happened
West Midlands Police used Microsoft Copilot to generate intelligence for assessing security risks ahead of an Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv football match in November 2025. The AI system fabricated details about a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham that never took place.
This false intelligence was presented to a council-led safety advisory group that made the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv away fans from attending the match. West Midlands Police initially misrepresented the source of the error, telling Parliament it resulted from an individual's Google search rather than AI use.
Reported impact
The decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv away fans was based partly on erroneous intelligence containing the fabricated match information. The false intelligence influenced the security assessment that led to the away-fan ban.
Index analysis
Microsoft Copilot generated hallucinated content by creating a non-existent match between two real teams. The system produced plausible but false information that was not fact-checked before being presented to decision-makers.
Governance controls
West Midlands Police initially failed to disclose the use of AI in generating intelligence and misled Parliament about the source of the error. His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary commissioned an urgent inspection into the matter following Parliamentary scrutiny.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.