A talk show host from Georgia has filed a defamation lawsuit against artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI, alleging that its chatbot fabricated legal claims against him. This is believed to be the first defamation complaint related to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which was introduced in November 2020.
Mark Walters, the founder of Armed American Radio, is seeking unspecified monetary damages from OpenAI. According to the complaint, journalist Fred Riehl asked the AI-powered chatbot to summarize a case filed in Washington federal court, but the response contained false accusations against Walters.
The chatbot reportedly claimed that Walters was accused of defrauding and embezzling funds from the Second Amendment Foundation, which he worked for as treasurer and chief financial officer. Walters alleges that every statement of fact in the summary provided by ChatGPT is false, including an erroneous case number created by the AI chatbot.
Walters claims that the false allegations have injured his reputation and exposed him to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule. OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment on the case.
OpenAI is a private research lab that develops AI, founded in 2015 as a nonprofit organization by Elon Musk (who is no longer associated with OpenAI), CEO Sam Altman, and others. The organization’s ChatGPT includes a disclaimer that while safeguards are in place, the system may occasionally generate incorrect or misleading information and produce offensive or biased content.
When ChatGPT was asked to provide a summary of the lawsuit that was cited in Walters’ lawsuit, it responded that it could not access or browse the internet or view specific documents or links that were published after its knowledge cutoff in September 2021. The chatbot recommended reviewing the document or referring to trusted news sources or legal websites for accurate and up-to-date information.
