KPMG AI Report Retracted Over ‘Made-Up’ Case Studies
By Varun Mittal
KPMG withdraws global AI report after UBS, NHS, and others dispute ‘made-up’ case studies, exposing AI hallucination risks in consulting.
Consulting giant KPMG has retracted its global AI report, “Redefining Excellence in the Age of Agentic AI,” after major organizations challenged its case studies as “made-up” and potentially generated by AI hallucinations.
The withdrawal highlights increasing concerns about the accuracy and integrity of AI-driven research within the consulting industry.
The Disputed Claims
- UBS denied using AI agents for investment advisory and risk management.
- Swiss Federal Railways stated its AI agent use for journey planning was inaccurately described.
- Transport for London found claims about AI agents predicting congestion misleading.
- NHS Greater Manchester reported KPMG’s description of its AI agent use for patient records and referrals was incorrect.
Why It Matters
KPMG’s report had claimed these entities were actively using AI agents to transform operations, but tech research firm GPTZero and the Financial Times verified the inaccuracies.
This incident follows a similar withdrawal by EY of a study containing fake footnotes and AI-generated errors, also uncovered by GPTZero.
Internal Investigation Underway
KPMG International has removed the report and launched an internal investigation.
The firm emphasized its commitment to accuracy, suggesting employees may have violated internal AI-use policies requiring human oversight and independent source verification.