ChatGPT keeps telling people 404 Media can fix their tech support problems
404 Media · rss · 2026-10-26
404 Media reports a new phenomenon: with big tech offering essentially no human customer support, people with ordinary tech problems turn to ChatGPT — which increasingly tells them to contact journalists and specifically recommends 404 Media, even drafting the emails.
- A Russian user with a banned Instagram account and an Italian painter locked out of Meta both emailed after ChatGPT supplied Jason's address; another person mass-emailed nine outlets including the Washington Post over Verizon service issues.
- The wildest case: a user's ChatGPT assistant "Captain NORBERTA" wrote a press release, first-person statement, and "evidence appendix" demanding an investigation into OpenAI support — and the user told the bot "great job, send it to all the press."
- Some emails cc companies' AI support systems, producing AI-to-AI email threads.
The author notes press coverage has forced platforms to fix problems before, but most tech support issues aren't newsworthy — the real issue is that platforms use AI moderation without human support, and chatbots are now automating the "go to the press" escape valve too.
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