Canadian fiddler sues Google after AI Overview wrongly claimed he was a sex offender

FILE - A sign is displayed on a Google building at their campus in Mountain View, Calif., Sept. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

An acclaimed Canadian fiddle player has launched a $1.5m (€1.27m) civil lawsuit against Google, alleging that the online giant defamed him by falsely identifying him as a sex offender in an AI-generated summary of his life and career.

Ashley MacIsaac, a three-time Juno award-winning musician, asserted that Google was liable for the “foreseeable republication” of its AI-generated Overview feature, which previously published defamatory claims that he had been convicted of multiple criminal offences, including the sexual assault of a woman, internet luring involving a child with the intention of sexual assaulting the child, and assault causing bodily harm.