The proliferation of AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard doesn’t come without adverse effects.
Ads for fake versions of chatbot, especially Bard, are swirling around social media, reportedly targeting social media accounts of small U.S. businesses, as shared in a recent Google lawsuit.
The scammers on the receiving end of the lawsuit had created social media pages and ran ads that asked people to download Bard to use it. Bard, however, is completely free to use and is available as a web page, without any downloads required.
Users who weren’t aware of that downloaded the malware-infested ‘Bard,’ which compromised the victim’s social media accounts and stole credentials.
Google says that since April, it has filed roughly 300 takedowns related to this group of bad actors.
As part of the lawsuit, Google is looking to get an order to stop the fraudsters from setting up such domains and disable any active ones. “If this is successful, it will serve as a deterrent and provide a clear mechanism for preventing similar scams in the future.”
“Today’s actions are part of our ongoing legal strategy to protect consumers and small businesses, and establish needed legal precedents in emerging fields of innovation. Clear rules against frauds, scams, and harassment are important — no matter how novel the setting — and we’re committed to doing our part to protect the people who use the internet from abuse,” added Google.
In addition to stopping AI scammers, Google also detailed a lawsuit targeting bad actors abusing the DMCA by using fake copyright takedowns to decrease competition.
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