YesChat allows users to unleash “inner irony” with the help of Larry David Bott. Or “Explore Jewish Wisdom” with another Larry David Bot. Or a workshop horror story with Stephen Kingbot. Or chat about his criticism with Roger Ebert.
It is rare that any of the celebrities whose names are displayed on these bots have a relationship with them.
Last month, motivational speaker Tony Robbins sued the makers of Yeschat and accused them of hijacking the site's series of bots' names and reputations. Please talk to Tony Robbins, Tony Robbins GPT and Tony Robbins Espanyol GPT.
Robbins claims that an unauthorized bot has ingested his seminars and other copyrighted content, essentially reselling it in his name, which he has registered as a trademark. YESCHAT has a variety of paid subscription tiers ranging from $8 a month to $40 a month, allowing users to access 200,000 GPTS.
The lawsuit alleges that the bot is competing with Robbins' own approved AI clones.
Brian Wolf, the lawyer who filed the lawsuit, said it was the first case he knew.
“I don't know there was another situation where public figures and celebrities filed claims against GPT chatbot replicas. We created a chatbot that mimics the persona of famous individuals,” he said.
YESCHAT did not respond to letters halting and obsolescence of Wolf. The companies behind it – Innoleap and Mira Muse have yet to respond to the lawsuit filed in federal court in San Diego on June 26th.
The lawsuit alleges federal trademarks and false advertising claims, as well as violations of California's rights to publicity law. The lawsuit seeks at least $10 million in compensatory damages for unfair competition, plus $2 million for every trademark violation, as well as punitive damages for “willful and malicious misconduct.”
Other creators have filed numerous lawsuits over the misuse of copyrighted material to train AI models. AI companies have achieved some success by claiming that such training constitutes “fair use,” but Wolf says this case is different.
“These cases are different from this case. They mimic and reproduce the virtual persona of famous individuals and promote it that way,” says Wolf of Lavely & Singer. “We represent countless celebrities and public figures and take a rather offensive approach on behalf of those clients.”
