Louise Matsakis: Oh God, you wouldn’t see me in the office for weeks if there was a bedbug infestation. How did they find out about it?
Zoë Schiffer: Basically, they received an email on Sunday saying that exterminators had arrived on the scene with sniffer dogs and had “found credible evidence of their presence.” There, being bedbugs. Sources tell WIRED that there are a number of gigantic stuffed animals in Google’s Fresh York offices, and there has certainly been a rumor among employees that the stuffed animals are related to the outbreak. We were unable to verify this information before publication, but anyway, on Monday morning the company informed employees that they could return to the office. And people like you, Louise, really weren’t elated about it. They said, “I’m not sure it’s completely clean here.” That’s why we had people showing up in our inboxes wanting to talk.
Louise Matsakis: All I can say is that if you have photos or a description of the gigantic stuffed animals mentioned, please contact me and Zoë. Thank you.
Zoë Schiffer: Yes. This is a cry for facilitate. I thought the best part of it all was that when I gave Louise my design, she said, “Wait, this has happened before.” And he pulled up a 2010 article about a bedbug epidemic in Google’s Fresh York offices.
Louise Matsakis: Yes. This isn’t the first time it’s heartbreaking.
Zoë Schiffer: After the break, we’ll look at why some people mentally complained to the FTC about ChatGPT, which led them to AI psychosis. Stay with us.
Welcome back Uncanny Valley. I’m Zoë Schiffer. I’m joined today by Louise Matsakis from WIRED. Let’s dive into our main story this week. The Federal Trade Commission received 200 complaints about ChatGPT OpenAI between November 2022 at launch and August 2025. Most people reported normal complaints. They didn’t know how to unsubscribe or were frustrated with unsatisfactory or faulty chatbot responses. However, amid these complaints, our colleague Caroline Haskins found that several people attributed delusions, paranoia and spiritual crisis to the chatbot.