A court in Germany has ruled that Google is liable for any false statements its AI summaries make, after the search giant was taken to court by two publishers who were incorrectly linked to scams by the search engine’s AI summaries. With only Google able to adjust what the summaries say, the court claimed it’s responsible for their accuracy, potentially setting up a major roadblock for Google and the rest of the AI industry.
Google’s AI search summaries have been cited for major inaccuracies many times over. It famously can’t tell you how many letter R’s there are in “strawberry,” or whether you should walk to the car wash, or whether rocks and glue are appropriate side dishes. Although Google has been pushing to make the summaries less error-prone, a court in Germany could make it liable for any errors that slip through the cracks.
In this particular case, the publishers suing Google were linked to scams, which the AI summary confirmed when pressed. But when those publishers asked Google to correct the misconception and even issued the company a cease-and-desist letter, Google refused, so they went to court. And now the court’s preliminary ruling is that Google is responsible. If that result holds up, it could have huge ramifications for Google’s AI search efforts and for a wide range of AI tools and functions.
Traditionally, slander on the internet was addressable directly. Anyone who feels someone is lying about them online can take legal action against them directly to have it changed, or petition service providers to take action. In the case of Google’s AI summaries, though, the court ruled that because the summaries created “independent, new, and substantive statements,” Google alone was responsible.
AI search does not enjoy the protections of free speech, nor is it necessary for standard search functions, the court claims. Nobody needs to use AI search to find information, the court argued, making this a feature Google can control and turn off if necessary.
That may be something Google seriously considers doing if this legal action sets a precedent. If Google is legally liable for anything its AI summaries say, it’s not hard to imagine scenarios where anyone could sue the search giant over misinformation or harmful suggestions. If that were to happen, the ramifications for AI chatbots and other AI tools the world over could be dire.
