AI Error Sent Innocent American Woman to Prison for Six Months — She's Demanding 212 Million

A resident of Tennessee, Angela Lipps, spent six months behind bars because of a mistake made by an AI-powered facial recognition system. She was arrested in July 2025 on suspicion of bank fraud allegedly committed in Fargo, North Dakota — a city she had never even set foot in. Now she has filed a federal lawsuit against police, seeking 212 million crowns in compensation.

Police burst into the house where she was babysitting

According to the lawsuit, police relied entirely on the AI system's findings without ever checking whether the suspicion actually held up. The detective in charge of the case reportedly made no effort to determine whether Lipps had actually been at the scene of the crime. In the summer of 2025, acting on the AI's conclusion, officers stormed the house where she was looking after children and took her into custody in Tennessee.

She spent several months there with no chance of bail, as authorities considered her a flight risk. She was then transferred to Fargo, where she was to be formally charged in the jurisdiction where the alleged crime took place. It wasn't until Christmas Eve, December 24, that Lipps was finally released — her lawyer presented irrefutable evidence that she had been in Tennessee at the time of the crime.

"I've never been there and don't know anyone there"

"I've never been to North Dakota and I don't know anyone there," Lipps said earlier, adding that she had never even flown on a plane before, with all her travels limited to nearby states within a short drive. To prove her alibi, she had to travel nearly 1,900 kilometers to Fargo.

"It was horrifying — I keep replaying it in my head over and over," she said, noting that throughout her detention she had no opportunity to post bail.

Lawsuit against the city and the detective

The main defendants named in the lawsuit are the detective who issued the arrest warrant based on "AI-generated information," and the city government of Fargo, North Dakota, itself. According to the complaint, officials were aware that AI-based facial recognition technology should never be used as the sole basis for an arrest warrant, but they ignored this rule without considering the potential harm.

Lipps hopes her story will push police departments and other authorities to be far more cautious about deploying such AI technologies, which continue to spread ever more widely.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz