Google just learned that calling something a “hallucination” doesn’t make a lawsuit disappear. A Delaware Superior Court judge has allowed conservative activist Robby Starbuck to move forward with defamation claims against Google over false statements generated by its Bard AI chatbot, rejecting the tech giant’s motion to dismiss.
The ruling, issued on July 24, 2026, by Judge Meghan Adams, could reshape how courts treat AI-generated content.
What Google’s AI allegedly said
Starbuck’s lawsuit, filed on October 22, 2025, alleges that Google’s Bard AI produced a series of deeply damaging false statements about him. The AI reportedly labeled Starbuck a “child rapist,” a “serial sexual abuser,” and a “shooter.” It also allegedly linked him to white nationalist figure Richard Spencer.
The false outputs allegedly began circulating as early as 2023 and continued across later iterations of Google’s AI models. Starbuck claims he communicated these concerns directly to Google executives. The issues, according to the lawsuit, went unaddressed.
