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Google is suing scammers who are trying to use the hype around generative AI to trick people into downloading malware, the company has announced. In a lawsuit filed today in California, the company says individuals believed to be based in Vietnam are setting up social media pages and running ads encouraging users to \u201cdownload\u201d its generative AI service Bard. The download actually delivers malware to the victims, which steals social media credentials for the scammers to use.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cDefendants are three individuals whose identities are unknown who claim to provide, among other things, \u201cthe latest version\u201d of Google Bard for download,\u201d the lawsuit reads. \u201cDefendants are not affiliated with Google in any way, though they pretend to be. They have used Google trademarks, including Google, Google AI, and Bard to lure unsuspecting victims into downloading malware onto their computers.\u201d The lawsuit notes that scammers have specifically used promoted Facebook posts in an attempt to distribute malware.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Similar to crypto scams, the lawsuit highlights how interest in an emerging technology can be weaponized against people who may not fully understanding how it operates. For example, the scammers in this case imply that Bard is a paid service or app that users need to download, when it\u2019s actually available free of charge at bard.google.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Google\u2019s blog post notes that it\u2019s already submitted around 300 takedown requests in relation to these scammers, but wants them to be prevented from setting up future malicious domains, and wants them to be disabled with US domain registrars.\u00a0\u201cLawsuits are an effective tool for establishing a legal precedent, disrupting the tools used by scammers, and raising the consequences for bad actors,\u201d Google\u2019s general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado writes in the company\u2019s blog post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n