The family of Michael Schumacher, the seven-time Formula 1 World Champion, has emerged victorious in a legal battle against a controversial AI-generated “interview” published by German magazine Die Aktuelle. The magazine’s publishers, Funke Media Group, have agreed to pay €200,000 ($217,000) as compensation following a judgment and settlement reached in the Munich Labour Court. Both the Schumacher family and the media outlet have chosen not to provide any further comments on the matter.
The AI-generated fake interview, which appeared on the front cover of the magazine, falsely claimed to contain responses from Schumacher himself. However, it was later revealed that the answers were generated by an AI chatbot, with only vague statements from friends included. This publication received significant backlash from the public, leading the Schumacher family to take legal action. In response, the Funke Group apologized and terminated the contract of the editor-in-chief responsible for the article.
Die Aktuelle has previously faced legal troubles involving the Schumacher family. In 2014, following Schumacher’s skiing accident, the magazine published a front cover featuring Michael and his wife Corinna with the headline “Awaken.” However, the content was unrelated to Schumacher’s health condition and instead referred to individuals who had awakened from comas in the past. The following year, the Schumacher family once again took legal action against the publication for suggesting a “new love” had entered Corinna’s life, when in fact the article was about their daughter Gina-Maria.
Since his skiing accident in December 2013, there has been limited information available about Michael Schumacher’s health condition. The most recent public statement regarding his condition came from Corinna Schumacher in the Netflix documentary ‘Schumacher.’ She briefly mentioned that Michael is present but different, and that they are doing everything possible to improve his well-being and maintain their family bond. Corinna emphasized the importance of allowing Michael to enjoy his private life and expressed their commitment to protecting him, just as he had always protected them.