WISCONSIN — A 41-year-old Japanese researcher at the University of Wisconsin has been arrested and indicted for allegedly lacing a colleague’s water bottle with toxic chemicals after using artificial intelligence to calculate the dosage, reports Fuji News Network (Apr. 23).
Makoto Kuroda, a researcher at the university’s Influenza Research Institute, faces charges of reckless endangerment after he allegedly injected a dangerous cocktail of chemicals into a male colleague’s water bottle on April 4.
According to authorities, Kuroda used a syringe to extract paraformaldehyde and TRIzol — chemicals typically used in the lab to extract RNA — from a refrigerator before mixing them into the victim’s drink. He is also accused of sprinkling the toxic substance into the man’s shoes.
The victim, who had worked alongside Kuroda for five years, took a sip of the contaminated water but immediately spat it out, escaping without injury.
Investigators revealed that Kuroda premeditated the attack by consulting the generative AI tool ChatGPT to determine exactly how much of the toxic substance was needed to inflict harm without being lethal.
The poisoning was allegedly driven by workplace resentment. Kuroda told investigators he was aggrieved that his colleague had been promoted over him, and that the man routinely ignored his strict warnings about failing to wear a lab coat in the laboratory.
“My goal was to make him sick,” Kuroda was quoted as telling police.
Shortly after the incident, Kuroda sent an email in Japanese to his superior, a professor at the institute, confessing to the act.
“I did it. I have also told him. I am very sorry,” the email read.
Kuroda was taken into custody on April 10 and has since been formally indicted.
