WALNUT CREEK — When police here slapped handcuffs on a 40-year-old employee for a Bay Area artificial intelligence company, he had an explanation ready: he’d assumed the whole thing was a glitch in the matrix, police say.
Prosecutors didn’t believe Faiz Munshi’s story, and have charged him with three felonies, including contacting a minor for a sexual offense and two counts of attempted lewd act on a minor. Police say the charges stem from a sting involving an undercover cop who posed as a 13-year-old girl and engaged in inappropriate chats with Munshi.
He was arrested after allegedly showing up to a location in San Ramon for a meeting with the “girl.”
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But while police were ready for Munshi, they weren’t quite ready for what he told them next. Munshi — who works for an AI company in San Francisco — allegedly claimed that he believed the “girl” was actually a malfunctioning bot, and that he wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on, authorities said.
Walnut Creek police said in court papers that after an undercover officer set up a dating profile on Whisper in the name and likeness of a teen girl, Munshi reached out and messaged: “Hopefully you are not under 18. As long as you keep telling me you are 18. I don’t want to know.”
Eventually, though, the officer told Munshi they were a 13-year-old girl, and Munshi allegedly said, “Hmm young but if you swear to secrecy then it’s fine,” then later discussed whether they would “jump into sex,” authorities say.
Munshi was arrested in San Ramon on Oct. 26, 2023. Prosecutors just recently filed a three-count felony complaint against him. He has bailed out of jail and remains free while the charges are pending, court records show.