Google Takes Strict Legal Action Over Fake Bard App (Image: Unsplash)

Google announced that it is proceeding with legal action against a certain group of scammers who offered a malicious version of its popular AI chatbot, Bard. This fake version tricks users into downloading and installing malware software on their devices. Google has filed a lawsuit in connection with this matter in a federal court in the Northern District of California.

Google mentioned in its statement that the scammers exploited public enthusiasm for generative AI to spread malware. “For the latest scams, lawsuits are an effective tool for establishing a legal precedent, disrupting the tools used by scammers, and raising the consequences for bad actors,” said Google’s general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado in the blog post on November 13. Google alleged that the scammers misled several people around the globe looking to use Google’s AI tools into unknowingly downloading malware. The Wall Street Journal reported that the lawsuit targets unnamed scammers from India and Vietnam.

Google alleged that the scammers made social media pages and encouraged people to “download” Bard by running ads. However, Google reminded that Bard, which was unveiled in March 2023, is a freely available generative AI tool and it is not required to be downloaded. Scammers are using bogus names like Google AI and AIGoogle Bard FB for this activity. “The ads instead led people to download malware that compromised their social media accounts,” added Google. The company is currently seeking an order to stop the scammers from setting up fake domains. Google has also filed another lawsuit against scammers who took advantage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by using bogus copyright takedowns to harm competitors.