German court rules Google liable for AI defamation
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The gist
A German court banned Google from repeating AI answers that falsely accused a doctor of crimes.
The rulings treat AI summaries as Google's own speech, exposing it to defamation liability.
Background
Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode are search features that generate short answers by combining other websites' content; Google Ireland runs Google Search in the EU. A professor and former head of a neuroradiology clinic objected after the AI answered that he had been suspended over an accusation from his secretary and later said he was convicted of sexual coercion with a suspended sentence. The Aachen Regional Court (8th civil chamber) granted his injunction, and it follows a Munich Regional Court I ruling that AI Overviews make 'independent, new and substantive statements' Google must treat as its own.
How it unfolded
- Feb 2024Google's AI Mode allegedly answered that the doctor had been suspended over an accusation from his secretary.
- Mar 2026Google's AI Mode allegedly said the doctor was convicted of sexual coercion with a suspended sentence.
- May 28, 2026Munich Regional Court I ruled Google directly liable for AI Overviews that falsely linked two Munich publishing companies to fraud schemes, subscription traps and name changes.
- Aug 28, 2026The doctor asked Google to delete the text.
- Sep 15, 2026The doctor sent a formal legal warning; it did not work.
- Sep 24, 2026Aachen Regional Court banned Google from repeating the false claims without hearing Google first; Google Ireland faces fines of up to €250,000 per breach or detention of its managers if it repeats three versions of the text.
- Oct 18, 2026Reports said Google's appeal of the Munich ruling ended in a settlement, terms unknown, so no higher court ruled.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Aachen Regional Court said Google 'provides AI-generated search and is therefore also responsible for the answers generated in this context', and that confronting its own AI with the objections would have shown the statements were false.
- Official
- Munich Regional Court I said AI Overviews make 'independent, new and substantive statements' built by evaluating and combining third-party sites, so Google must treat them as its own, including as provider of an AI system under the EU's AI Act.
- Caution
- Google argued in Munich it was only summarising other people's pages, the defence that has long protected search engines in Germany, and said it would appeal.
- Support
- Berlin Regional Court II dismissed Coty's trademark claim over AI Overviews and AI Mode 'scent twins' answers, finding users see the features as an extended form of search results; Google's lawyer there called Google 'a neutral intermediary'.
Still unverified
Terms of the Munich settlement are not known; neither Google nor the publishers would comment. Google can still challenge the Aachen order.