Coinbase under fire after AI sends fake World Cup result as breaking news

Coinbase has come under fire after a glaring blunder: an AI-generated notification on the company’s prediction market platform sent a completely fabricated result of a World Cup football match to millions of users, even before the match had started. The notification claimed that Norway beat Brazil 3-2, with two goals from Erling Haaland. The error raises serious questions about the use of AI in financial products.

At the same time, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has revealed that around 40% of all daily code at Coinbase is now written by AI, and he aims to push that figure above 50% by October.

AI sends fake result as breaking news

Coinbase’s AI pushed out a notification containing a completely fictitious news item. Norway had supposedly defeated Brazil in the World Cup round of 16, with a 3-2 victory and two goals from Haaland. The message presented this as breaking news, even though the match had not yet been played at that time. The exchange’s own market page even showed a weather delay and that no result existed yet.

Users quickly picked up on the error and shared screenshots on social media. Critics have called the AI’s behaviour dangerous and irresponsible, especially for a platform that positions prediction markets as tools for finding truth. The question arises how a system reaching millions of users can produce and spread such hallucinations without any checks.

Armstrong acknowledges the mistake and promises investigation

CEO Brian Armstrong has responded to the uproar, saying he and his team are investigating the error. The blunder comes at an awkward moment: Armstrong had just proudly announced that 40% of code at Coinbase is now generated by AI. He wants to push that percentage above 50% by October, with the caveat that all AI code must of course be reviewed and understood, and that not all departments can use AI-generated code.

The incident shows that the rapid rise of AI at tech companies also carries risks, especially when it comes to products that directly affect the information users receive. For Coinbase, which presents prediction markets as reliable tools, the timing is particularly painful. Whether the mistake will have consequences for how the company deploys AI in such products remains unclear.