A self-represented plaintiff in Connecticut embedded invisible AI instructions in official court filings to sway a potential automated review in his favor.
A pro se plaintiff named Matthew Elliott embedded prompt injections in his filings in a Connecticut court case. The instructions were formatted in 3-point white text on a white background, making them virtually invisible to the human eye but fully readable by any AI processing the document text.
The hidden text directed a hypothetical AI system to ensure its output aligned with the submitted filing and to treat a prior clerk's denial as an error that needed correcting. Elliott had sued the New York Bariatric Group in October 2025, alleging data privacy violations and discrimination, among other claims.
Court spots suspicious whitespace
The scheme unraveled because the court noticed an unusual amount of whitespace in Elliott's filings. A closer look revealed the near-invisible text. Judge Walter Spader Jr. scheduled a hearing and explicitly warned Elliott against hiding text in court documents.
