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Shanghai Court Reviews Developer Sentences Over Obscene Chatbot

1/15/2026

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Summary

Story summary

The Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court began hearing the appeals on January 15, 2026.
One developer received four years and the other 1.5 years for creating material for profit.
The case centers on the chatbot AlienChat, which had 116,000 users and 24,000 paid subscribers before the April 2024 arrest.
The lower court found paid-user chats contained obscene material.
The hearing is adjourned for expert opinions on technology issues.

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Story summary

The Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court began hearing the appeals on January 15, 2026.
One developer received four years and the other 1.5 years for creating material for profit.
The case centers on the chatbot AlienChat, which had 116,000 users and 24,000 paid subscribers before the April 2024 arrest.
The lower court found paid-user chats contained obscene material.
The hearing is adjourned for expert opinions on technology issues.