Anti-DEI crusader sues Google after AI bot accused him of sex assault, links to white supremacist – New York Post
Conservative influencer Robby Starbuck is suing Google after he alleged that its artificial intelligence-powered chatbot falsely linked him to a sexual assault allegation as well as to notorious white nationalist Richard Spencer.
Starbuck, who has racked up wins by forcing some of America’s largest companies to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, filed the defamation suit against the tech giant on Wednesday in Delaware Superior Court, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Starbuck is reportedly seeking more than $15 million in damages from Google.
The complaint alleges that Bard, a precursor to Google Gemini, inaccurately tied Starbuck to Spencer, who is best known for having played a prominent role during the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.
Starbuck has also alleged that Gemma and Gemini, two of Google’s AI tools, inaccurately stated that he had been accused of sexual assault and that he took part in the US Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021.
Starbuck was never accused of sexual assault nor did he take part in the Capitol riots.
“Most of these claims relate to hallucinations in Bard that we addressed in 2023,” a Google spokesperson told The Post.
“Hallucinations are a well known issue for all LLMs, which we disclose and work hard to minimize.”
According to the spokesperson, “if you’re creative enough, you can prompt a chatbot to say something misleading.”
“We’ll review the complaint when we receive it,” the company rep said.
The Post has sought comment from Starbuck.
Last year, Google temporarily disabled its Gemini chatbot after it generated historically inaccurate images and depictions that were slammed as “woke.”
The search giant turn off Gemini’s ability to create pictures of humans in late February of last year after it produced bizarre ahistorical photos such as Black Vikings and “diverse” Nazi-era German soldiers.
Starbuck, a former music video director from a Cuban-American family, reinvented himself as a prominent conservative activist leading campaigns against DEI policies.
Since 2024, he has used social media to organize boycotts and pressure major companies — including Walmart, Ford and John Deere –– to scale back DEI and ESG initiatives.
Starbuck now serves as a speaker and adviser on conservative business issues, positioning himself as a central figure in the movement challenging DEI programs across corporate America.
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