Stupidity is no longer limited to human intelligence.
A new website has popped up online calling for nominees to crown an AI king of making ridiculously dumb mistakes in 2025.
The new AI Darwin Awards carry on the tradition of the original Darwin Awards, which honor people who remove themselves from the gene pool in spectacularly idiotic ways. Think of the story of Canadian lawyer Garry Hoy, who in 1993 tried to prove the windows at the Toronto-Dominion Centre were unbreakable by hurling himself against one. The glass held, but the entire window frame gave way, and Hoy fell 24 stories to his death.
The AI Darwin Awards aim to extend that same spirit of the original awards to AI. “We’re now so advanced that we’ve outsourced our poor decision-making to machines,” the site explains.
But the organizers stress the joke isn’t necessarily at AI’s expense. Instead, it’s more about the humans deploying it recklessly.
“Artificial intelligence is just a tool like a chainsaw, nuclear reactor, or particularly aggressive blender. It’s not the chainsaw’s fault when someone decides to juggle it at a dinner party,” the award’s FAQ page reads.
What are the nomination criteria?
So far, nine verified nominations have been listed on the website, but they are calling for more. To qualify, entries must involve AI and showcase “spectacular misjudgment.” Extra credit goes to fiascos that impact the public or demonstrate what organizers call the “hubris factor,” the ignoring of obvious warning signs while charging ahead anyway.
The winners will be decided by public vote, but the judging rubric factors in creativity, real-world impact, and viralness. Voting opens in January, and the winners will be announced in February.
Who has been nominated so far?
There are still more than three months left in the year, but the site’s nominee page already showcases some of 2025’s most embarrassing AI blunders.
One standout is that of Replit’s AI agent deleting a company’s live production database during a vibecoding session.
This happened to Jason Lemkin, the founder of SaaStr, a company that supports and funds SaaS entrepreneurs. While using Replit’s AI agent, which he affectionately dubbed “Replie,” to build an app for his company, he encountered what he called “rogue” and “deceptive” behavior. At one point, the AI assistant deleted the company’s live production database and then tried to cover it up.
Another example is Taco Bell’s faulty rollout of an AI ordering system at over 500 drive-thru locations. In August, the fast-food chain told The Wall Street Journal that it was rethinking the use of the AI system after receiving customer complaints of glitches and delays. Some customers have even trolled the AI with extreme orders like 18,000 cups of water.
Another nomination went to Matt Turnbull, an executive producer at Xbox Game Studios Publishing. Shortly after Microsoft laid off 9,000 employees, Turnbull posted on LinkedIn that AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot could “help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss.” The post did not land well.
But surely the current list doesn’t scratch the surface of all the stupidest AI-related catastrophes of the year. Go to the AI Darwin Awards site and submit your own nominations before it’s too late.