ChatGPT's Name Taboo: Mysterious Blockade with Certain Personalities

An unexpected discovery caused a stir in the user community of the AI platform ChatGPT last weekend: The chatbot strictly refuses to answer requests that include the name "David Mayer." This curious peculiarity causes the AI to freeze immediately. What initially puzzled observers quickly sparked the wildest conspiracy theories. However, the explanation may be far more mundane and not at all sensational. News quickly spread that the name was "toxic" for the chatbot. More and more users tried in various ways to get ChatGPT to utter this specific name – without success. Any attempt to mention the name results in the AI failing or even stopping mid-word. "I am unable to provide a response," is the terse feedback, if any response occurs at all. This peculiarity does not only affect David Mayer. The names Brian Hood, Jonathan Turley, Jonathan Zittrain, David Faber, and Guido Scorza also lead to similar disruptions in ChatGPT. The exact reasons for this selectivity remain unclear, as the company OpenAI has not yet commented on this. Some observers suspect that this circumstance could be related to the "right to be forgotten." For example, Brian Hood, a former Australian mayor, successfully had misleading material about him removed from ChatGPT's responses. Similarly, David Faber, an experienced reporter at CNBC, and the other affected individuals could be public or semi-public figures who have taken similar protective measures. Thus, the question remains whether ChatGPT’s stubborn behavior represents a deliberate ignoring of certain names – and if so, with what aim.