The Federal Trade Commission announced it has finalized its order and penalties against DoNotPay, a company that claimed to provide “the world’s first robot lawyer.”
The FTC announced a complaint in September 2024, charging that DoNotPay’s service did not deliver on the company’s promise. The FTC says company dd not have attorneys on hand to review documents created by the AI chatbot to ensure their accuracy, not did it test the chatbot’s responses to ensure it was providing the same level of service a human attorney provides.
In a complaint announced in September 2024, the FTC charged that DoNotPay’s so-called robot lawyer failed to live up to claims that it was an adequate substitute for the expertise of a human lawyer. According to the complaint, the company did not test whether its “AI lawyer” operated to the level of a human lawyer when generating legal documents and giving advice, and the company did not hire or retain attorneys to test the quality and accuracy of its service’s law-related features.
As a result of the FTC’s findings, DoNotPay has been ordered to pay monetary relief and notify customers of the settlement.
The final order requires DoNotPay to pay $193,000 in monetary relief and notify consumers who subscribed to the service between 2021 and 2023 about the FTC settlement. The order also prohibits DoNotPay from advertising that its service performs like a real lawyer unless it has sufficient evidence to back it up.
“Using AI tools to trick, mislead, or defraud people is illegal,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan at the time the complaint was filed. “The FTC’s enforcement actions make clear that there is no AI exemption from the laws on the books. By cracking down on unfair or deceptive practices in these markets, FTC is ensuring that honest businesses and innovators can get a fair shot and consumers are being protected.”
The FTC voted in favor of the final order 5-0. The FTC’s unanimous and bipartisan finding about DoNotPay underscores the challenges consumers are facing when it comes to AI services and the promises they make.
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