False answers in Google AI Overviews can be sued - German Court, Google appeals

The 26th civil chamber of the Munich Regional Court in Germany recently ruled that Google can be held liable for false answers generated in their AI Overviews. According to the court, which specializes in press and defamation law, it ruled that the summary generated in AI Overviews is content that can be attributed to Google.  Google is appealing. 

What started this?

Apparently, 2 Munich-based publishers sued Google because they were falsely linked to scams in the AI Overviews. If you didn’t know already, AI Overviews is usually the first thing to be shown (aside from sponsored posts) when you search using Google these days and it creates a summary to answer your Search using AI. Google has clearly and repeatedly stated that the AI can make mistakes.

If the lawsuit goes through and Google’s appeal is dismissed it could set a precedent for more AI cases, many of which have also taken Google’s position that AI hallucinations can’t be held accountable. What do you think? Should they? We’d prefer if there were no hallucinations at all, or we could perhaps turn them on or off with an option button. Share your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned to TechNave.com