In a move to combat fraudulent activities leveraging the excitement around artificial intelligence, tech giant Google has filed a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court against entities allegedly involved in a scheme to deceive the public through social media.
According to court documents released by Reuters, the scammers employed tactics such as using Google’s logo in fake ads and social media posts to deceive individuals into downloading malware, claiming it was the latest version of Bard, Google’s flagship AI platform. The lawsuit specifically targets two unnamed persons or groups.
In a public statement, Google outlined the two primary strategies used by the scammers. The first involved exploiting the growing interest in generative AI to spread malware, while the second weaponized the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by submitting fraudulent copyright notices to harm business competitors.
The scammers presented themselves on Facebook under various names, including “Google AI,” “AIGoogle,” “AiGoogle,” and “AIGoogleBard.” The deceptive campaign extended to fake emails, domain names such as gbard-ai.info and gg-bard-ai.com, and even the use of Google’s proprietary typeface and colors.
Google’s attorneys emphasized in the filing that the defendants went to great lengths to increase confusion, incorporating elements such as Google’s multicolor sequence and images resembling Google speaking events or featuring CEO Sundar Pichai.
The lawsuit aims to disrupt the fraudulent scheme, raise public awareness, and prevent further harm. Google is seeking a jury trial against the accused parties.
In response to the legal action, a Google spokesperson referred to the company’s official post on the lawsuit, where Google expressed a commitment to protecting consumers and small businesses from online abuse. The spokesperson declined further comments on the ongoing case.
