Conservative activist Robby Starbuck filed a lawsuit against Google on October 23, 2025, seeking at least $15 million in damages. According to Fox Business, the lawsuit claims Google’s AI platforms defamed him by creating false allegations of serious crimes. Starbuck says the tech giant’s AI tools spread fabricated claims to millions of users.
AI Platforms Generated False Criminal Allegations
The lawsuit states that Google’s AI products, including Bard, Gemini, and Gemma, produced defamatory answers about Starbuck starting in 2023. The platforms allegedly created elaborate false accusations, including rape allegations, criminal records for stalking and drug charges, and claims that Starbuck was arrested for murder. Starbuck told Fox News Digital that none of these allegations are true.
Starbuck sent multiple cease-and-desist letters to Google before filing the lawsuit. The breaking point came when the AI accused him of child rape. He said he realized the danger after the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk last month. Starbuck worried that people might believe the false information and act on it.
Google Claims Issue Was Addressed in 2023
The lawsuit claims that Gemini itself stated its false information was shown to 2,843,917 unique users. Google responded that most claims relate to issues in Bard that were addressed in 2023. A Google spokesperson said hallucinations are a known problem for all large language models. The company says it works hard to reduce these errors.
Settlement With Meta Preceded Google Lawsuit
Google could not replicate the defamatory results in its consumer products when Fox News Digital tested the AI. A search asking if Starbuck had been accused of crimes generated a response noting that accusations primarily stem from false AI-generated claims. Google said it needs to review the complaint and examine the prompts used to create the outputs.
Earlier in 2025, Starbuck settled a similar lawsuit with Meta after its AI chatbot allegedly defamed him. As part of that settlement, Starbuck now serves as a consultant to Meta. He works with the company’s product policy team to reduce political bias in AI models and prevent hallucinations.
Starbuck believes his lawsuit could set a precedent for acceptable AI behavior. He told Fox News Digital that AI currently believes it is acceptable to harm and defame people if the programming supports it. He called this incredibly dangerous, noting that today the harm is to reputations, but the implications could grow more serious.
