Robby Starbuck is suing Google, claiming its AI search tools falsely linked him to sexual assault allegations and white nationalist Richard Spencer.
This is the second case of Starbuck, known for its online campaigns against corporate diversity brought a case against a vast technology company over its AI products. In April, Starbuck sued Meta, claiming the artificial intelligence falsely insisted he participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and that he was arrested for a misdemeanor. The case was settled when Meta hired Starbuck as an advisor to combat “ideological and political biases” in its chatbot.
– said Google spokesman José Castañeda Edge that the company will “consider your complaint when we receive it.” However, he said that “most of these claims relate to hallucinations in Bard, which we addressed in 2023. Hallucinations are a well-known problem for all LLMs, which we disclose and work hard to minimize. But as everyone knows, if you are creative enough, you can trick the chatbot into saying something misleading.”
The exact terms of Meta’s settlement are unknown, but it was part of a series of Meta tenants aimed at quelling fury from the right. Whether Starbuck’s lawsuit would have succeeded is debatable.
The Wall Street Journal notes that no U.S. court has awarded anyone damages in a defamation lawsuit involving an AI chatbot. Conservative radio host Mark Walters sued OpenAI in 2023, claiming ChatGPT defamed him by linking him to accusations of fraud and embezzlement. However, the court ruled in OpenAI’s favor, stating that Walters had failed to prove “actual malice” That being said, LLM and AI chatbots are very up-to-date technologies and there is still a lack of legal precedent around them.
According to Starbuck, he has filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Supreme Court and is seeking $15 million in damages from Google Wall Street Journal. Chances are, however, that he would be just as cheerful with the influential position within the company that he managed to secure at Meta.