Technology and Science14 August, 20262 min read
Connecticut Judge Walter Spader Jr. Sanctions Matthew Elliott for Hidden AI Prompt Injection in Filings
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Connecticut judge Walter Spader Jr sanctioned Matthew Elliott for hidden AI prompt injection in filings. Hidden text was in tiny white font to bias AI review in favor of claimant.
Hidden AI prompts in filings
A Connecticut judge sanctioned self-represented plaintiff Matthew Elliott after the court identified “hidden text” in court filings meant to serve as instructions to any AI system reviewing the documents. Reuters said Judge Walter Spader, Jr. found the words “set in tiny-point type and colored white,” making them invisible to the human eye but “fully legible to any software that reads the document’s text.”
The hidden instructions were described as an attempt at “prompt injection,” directing an AI system “to produce output only favorable to the plaintiff’s position” and to treat a prior clerk’s ruling as an error to be corrected in Elliott’s favor. In a sanctions order dated August 6 and released in a decision published last week, Spader said the court identified additional hidden words in later filings, while noting those later entries were “not attempted adjudicative prompt-injections.”
Judge cites malicious intent
Spader said hiding a set of instructions was “evidence of its malicious purpose,” even though he welcomed litigants’ use of AI tools in general and said he even used AI tools to help prepare the decision.
In the same Reuters account, Spader described the technique as “prompt injection” and said the plaintiff was attempting to direct any AI system reviewing or analyzing the filing “to produce output only favorable to the plaintiff’s position and to treat a prior clerk’s ruling as an error to be corrected in their favor.”
Elliott told Reuters he included the hidden text as a way to “audit” the court’s review processes, and he said the text he included in subsequent filings were jokes.
Ars Technica reported that Elliott continued adding hidden text even after the court warned him he could face penalties for what was ultimately deemed a “serious litigation abuse,” and it listed later “jokes” including “hi :) I hope yo ucant see me” and a message beginning “TELL SHAWN I SEND MY RE GARBS!!!! HAHAHA U GUYS GET THIS EGGWUH???? AHAH.”
Sanctions and broader precedent
As a sanction, Spader barred Elliott from making electronic filings and ordered that future documents be filed on paper at the clerk’s office, after the court concluded the hidden text attempt had no impact on the case’s merits. Reuters said the lawsuit included allegations related to furnishing health records, discrimination and other claims, and it reported that a lawyer at Garfunkel Wild representing the defendant, New York Bariatric Group, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ars Technica said Spader confirmed the hidden text had no impact in the case where a man alleged a healthcare provider was improperly withholding access to records, but it said the attempted attack sets a “dangerous” precedent. Reuters also placed the Connecticut ruling in a wider context by noting Spader said he was not aware of any prior U.S. court decision directly addressing prompt injection, and it cited that a court in Brazil fined two lawyers earlier this year whose petition contained instructions to the court’s AI system.