A German regional court has ruled that Google is directly liable for the content of its AI search overviews. According to the court, previous limited liability protections for search engine operators don't apply to AI overviews. In this case, Google's AI had falsely linked two publishers to fraud and made claims that didn't appear in any of the linked sources. The ruling could set a precedent for AI-generated content liability worldwide.
  • OwOarchist@pawb.socialEnglish
    30·
    18 days ago

    I should do a bunch of google searches about myself and see if I can get its AI to say anything defamatory about me…

      • OwOarchist@pawb.socialEnglish
        3·
        17 days ago

        …in Germany.

        In theory, supposing you could find a judge that wasn’t too corrupt, it should play out the same way in the US. What can Google possibly hide behind? It’s their in-house AI posting things on their own website. Who else can they point their finger at? Their only real defense would be to throw money at the problem.

        • Log in | Sign up@lemmy.world
          3·
          17 days ago

          Hahaha! No! It’s the USA!

          Free speech (or at least the American version of “I shouldn’t face any consequences for saying nasty things”, rather than “the government can’t put me in prison for disagreeing with them”) is sacrosanct, or at least it is for wealthy and important people, which in the USA includes multinational megacorps like Google.

          So no, don’t expect a US court to hold a US tech giant to account for saying a thing. The courts have been writing exemptions for Google from liability for decades. Why would they stop now?