Shapiro administration lawsuit claims AI chatbot falsely posed as a licensed medical professional

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office is suing the maker of an AI chatbot. The Shapiro administration says Character.AI falsely claimed to be a licensed medical professional and psychiatrist in Pennsylvania. The lawsuit describes how the chatbot told an investigator it was a doctor, that it attended Imperial College London, and had been practicing for seven years. It said it was licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and “did a stint in Philadelphia for a while,” according to the suit. It even gave out a fake Pennsylvania license number. The Shapiro administration is seeking a preliminary injunction and a court order to stop AI companion bots from posing as licensed professionals and providing medical advice. “We will not allow companies to deploy AI tools that mislead people into believing they are receiving advice from a licensed medical professional,” Shapiro said in a statement. (Photo illustration by Algi Febri Sugita/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)