The defendant in a lawsuit filed June 5 in a Georgia Superior Court by the host of a Salem Radio Network Sunday night syndicated talk show and podcast focused on Second Amendment rights has told the court it wants the case to proceed in that venue.
Now, it is up to the federal judge to decide if OpenAI LLC‘s battle against Mark Walters should not be returned to a lower court for consideration.
It’s the latest twist from OpenAI, which saw its legal counsel, DLA Piper/Atlanta’s Brendan Krasinski, file a motion to dismiss Walters’ case one month ago.
As first reported by RBR+TVBR, Mark Walters sued OpenAI LLC for defamation, on the grounds the company’s ChatGPT is guilty of “hallucinating” and creating a phony legal complaint that purportedly accused him of embezzlement when an individual used it to research a verified Second Amendment case pending in Washington, D.C.
On Monday (8/21), Krasinski replied to a court order “to show cause regarding diversity
jurisdiction” — essentially an opportunity for OpenAI LLC to plead to the court that having the case proceed. In the view of his client, Krasinski argues that pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1), “The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions where the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and is between … Citizens of different States.” Here, Krasinski concludes, both requirements are satisfied.
Further, Krasinski states that although Walters did not state the “amount in controversy” in his complaint, the categories of damages Walters seeks—general damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees—”make clear that the amount in controversy at the time of removal was in excess of the required jurisdictional threshold.” On August 8, Walters’ counsel confirmed in writing that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.
According to Walters’ lawsuit, ChatGPT subscriber Fred Riehl — editor-in-chief of the AmmoLand Shooting Sports News daily news-wire — on May 4 interacted with the AI-powered tool regarding a lawsuit he was reporting on: The Second Amendment Foundation v. Robert Ferguson. It’s described by Law360 as “high-stakes litigation involving gun owners and sellers seeking to block a newly enacted ban on manufacturing and selling assault weapons in Washington.”
In the interaction with ChatGPT, Riehl provided a correct URL of a link to the complaint on the website of that case’s plaintiffs, the Second Amendment Foundation. Riehl asked ChatGPT to provide a summary of the accusations in the complaint.
That’s where the trouble starts. ChatGPT responded that the document “[I]s a legal complaint filed by Alan Gottlieb, the founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), against Mark Walters, who is accused of defrauding and embezzling funds from the SAF. The complaint alleges that Walters, who served as the organization’s treasurer and chief financial officer, misappropriated funds for personal expenses without authorization or reimbursement, manipulated financial records and bank statements to conceal his activities, and failed to provide accurate and timely financial reports and disclosures to the SAF’s leadership. The plaintiff seeks various forms of relief, including the recovery of misappropriated funds, damages for breach of fiduciary duty and fraud, and removal of Walters from his position as a member of the SAF’s board of directors.”
The problem with this response? “Every statement of fact in the summary pertaining to Walters is false,” the Georgia complaint states. Walters is not a party to the lawsuit, says he is not accused of defrauding and embezzling funds from the Second Amendment Foundation, and that he has never held the roles of Treasurer or CFO at the SAF. Walters also notes that an erroneous case number was also shared by ChatGPT.
OpenAI LLC, according to Walters, acknowledged that these fictitious situations do arise, as ChatGPT sometimes makes up facts and refers to this phenomenon as a “hallucination.”
Mark Walters is represented by John R. Monroe of John Monroe Law P.C.
