Published Aug. 18, 2026

A rumor that a social media post from 2012 called for users to stop using ChatGPT, a generative AI chatbot released by OpenAI in 2022, circulated online in August 2026. 

Social media users allegedly unearthed a post on Twitter (now called X) that purportedly read, "Stop chat gpt!!" The screenshot shared online depicted a post dated Oct. 5, 2012. 

The seemingly prophetic tweet spread quickly across social media, with some claiming it was simply common Indonesian slang that looks like ChatGPT in retrospect, while another person responded, "I'm indonesian, don't listen to this guy she is a time traveller 100%."

The post was authentic. 

A Twitter account called "Marieanne" with a handle of @Meytrullers17 posted on Oct. 5, 2012 (archived): "Stop chat gpt!!"

As users offering "time travel" as an explanation for the perceived anachronism in the post pointed out, ChatGPT did not launch until 2022. 

The Twitter account in question is inactive as of this writing. The user managing the account last posted on June 22, 2013. According to the public account information, it was based in Indonesia. 

Some people replying to the post speculated it was possible the "Stop chat gpt" message referenced the Indonesian term "ga penting," meaning "not important," which they claimed is often abbreviated as "gpt." 

Indonesian culture is known for its extensive use of abbreviations. Southeast Asian marketing firm Illuminate chalked this up to a multitude of reasons, including Indonesia's general love of wordplay, the rise of social media, and its history operating under "a military-led government for 32 years," whose "efficient" and "structured language" affected its widespread adoption of acronyms and abbreviations. 

There are numerous travel blogs dedicated to cataloging various abbreviations used in Indonesia to help visitors navigate the country. Snopes' search for "gpt" on those sites yielded no results.

A search of Marieanne's other tweets revealed other uses of "gpt," including a post from 2012 that said "Stop BC sg gpt tah." 

In addition, the account also posted about receiving spam messages, suggesting that the use of "stop chat gpt" could mean something along the lines of "stop sending unimportant messages." 

While the other posts did not shed light on the viral post's intended meaning, it did show that it was not an isolated usage of "gpt" as an abbreviation. 

Snopes attempted to contact the owner of the account for comment but we have thus far been unable to get in touch. 

By Joey Esposito

Joey Esposito has written for a variety of entertainment publications. He's into music, video games ... and birds.