Schumacher family receives $230,000 over fake AI interview scandal

Michael Schumacher’s family have received a significant sum in compensation for a controversial article distributed by a German publication.

The seven-time F1 world champion has been out of the public eye since 2013 following his horrific skiing accident that left him with serious injuries, with very little detail given about his condition from his family since then.

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However, in April last year, German weekly women’s magazine Die Aktuelle published a supposed interview with Schumacher, presenting it as his ‘first interview’ following his accident over a decade ago.

The magazine even featured a picture of Schumacher smiling on their front cover, with the article claiming that he could stand "by myself and even slowly walk a few steps".

Schumacher family awarded compensation for fake interview

The controversial article was later confirmed to be fake, with the anonymous author saying that the quotes used for the piece were entirely generated by AI. The Schumacher family were left outraged by the article and immediately took legal action against the magazine’s publisher, Funke Mediengruppe.

As reported by Ubermedien, the Munich labour court ruled in favour of the Schumachers and ordered Funke to pay 200,000 euros (£170,239) in damages.

Furthermore, Funke fired their editor-in-chief Ann Hoffmann over the controversy, but it has been claimed that the court found her dismissal to not be legally valid, with Hoffmann successfully arguing against wrongful termination.

The article was widely condemned by the F1 paddock, with Schumacher’s former team-mate Johnny Herbert blasting the publication a month after its release.

"That German magazine interview was appalling," he told ICE36.

"This is the modern, mad world of AI (artificial intelligence) and how dangerous it can be. That was a prime example of using it in completely the wrong way.

"I can understand the fascination with Michael because it is a story that has not had an ending yet. There is an endless fascination about Michael. I don’t have any contact with the family. It is all kept very tight."

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