Google Sued by Robby Starbuck Over False AI-Crafted Biography

Conservative activist Robby Starbuck sued Google LLC Wednesday, claiming the technology company’s AI chatbots spread “radioactive lies” about him that make him out to be a “monster.”

Google knows “its widely used AI product was continuing to tell the world that Mr. Starbuck was a criminal with a history of despicable behavior in his personal and professional lives,” Starbuck said in his complaint filed in Delaware state court.

The company’s AI was “deliberately engineered to damage the reputation of individuals with whom Google executives disagree politically, including Mr. Starbuck,” the complaint says. Starbuck added that the “defamatory falsehoods” have only become “exponentially more outrageous and damning” to Starbuck’s reputation, prompting the suit.

José Castañeda, a spokesperson for Google, said in a statement that most of Starbuck’s claims stem from “AI hallucinations” the company previously addressed related to its former large language model product “Bard.”

“Hallucinations are a well known issue for all LLMs, which we disclose and work hard to minimize,” Castañeda said. “But as everyone knows, if you’re creative enough, you can prompt a chatbot to say something misleading.”

Starbuck says Google is liable for defamation per se and is seeking judgment in his favor and an injunction enjoining the company from publishing defamatory statements about him. He also seeks damages that are estimated to exceed $15 million, the complaint says.

Starbuck, who is a filmmaker that has led the charge on anti-DEI campaigns, similarly sued Meta Platforms Inc. in Delaware state court in April—before dropping the suit in August—lodging allegations the company’s AI was defaming him.

Bard and Google’s current AI assistant “Gemini” allegedly will return answers when asked about Starbuck that portray him as, among other things, a serial sexual abuser, a financial exploiter, and a “shooter,” the complaint says. Starbuck says when asked to verify such claims, the AIs will produce false news articles that were never written and attribute them to real journalists.

Starbuck says he first became aware of the allegedly defamatory statements in Google’s AI when using Bard in 2023. His conversation with Bard then progressed to the chatbot advocating for the death penalty onto Starbuck based on the false statements, the complaint says. He alerted Google and some of its engineers of the issue and alleges they never took any corrective action, Starbuck says.

Google’s chatbots have generated at least 22 false statements that constitute defamation per se, according to the complaint.

“The false statements are disparaging and have exposed Mr. Starbuck to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or obloquy, and have caused him to be shunned or avoided, and have a tendency to injure him in his occupation, trade, or profession, in the ways discussed above,” Starbuck says.

Dhillon Law Group Inc. and Shaw Keller LLP represent Starbuck.

The case is Starbuck v. Google LLC, Del. Super. Ct., No. N25C-10-211, 10/22/25.