Last year, OpenAI boasted about a seismic change to its flagship ChatGPT: the chatbot could “now browse the internet to provide you with current and authoritative information, complete with direct links to sources.” In theory, this is probably a good idea. AI systems like ChatGPT are notorious for making stuff up and ripping off original authors without giving credit, so it makes sense to show where the AI is pulling info from. But in reality, ChatGPT’s sources are often abysmal. When we quizzed ChatGPT-4o about current events, for instance, it repeatedly cited a sloppy scam news site that deluges the user with fake software updates and virus warnings. Asked about the life and death of the late William Goines — a Bronze Star and a Navy Commendation Medal recipient who in the early 1960s became the first Black member of the modern-era Navy SEALs — ChatGPT ignored obituaries published by The New York Times and the Washington Post to instead promote an unknown site called County Local News. If you actually visit the County Local News story recommended by ChatGPT — though we strongly recommend that you don’t — it’ll bring up malicious popups impersonating updates for Adobe Flash Player and other software. Click the fake update and things get even worse, with the site going full-screen and showing a storm of phony virus notifications using the branding of the antivirus company McAfee. And if you’re foolish enough to allow notifications from the site, it’ll even start harassing you on your…ChatGPT-4o Is Sending Users to a Scammy Website That Floods Your Screen With Fake Virus Warnings