DoNotPay 'robot lawyer' fined 193K by the FTC for not being a lawyer

The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against DoNotPay, alleging that the AI-powered company billing itself as "the world's first robot lawyer" failed to back its claims that it could replace human legal representation. The agency's complaint argues that DoNotPay did not conduct tests to assess whether its AI chatbot was equivalent to a human lawyer, and that the company did not hire or retain any attorneys of its own. DoNotPay has agreed to a proposed settlement that would see it face fines of 193,000. In addition, the settlement will require DoNotPay to inform customers who subscribed to its service between 2021 and 2023 about the limitations of its offerings. This proposed settlement is part of an FTC program called Operation AI Comply, which is targeting businesses that leverage artificial intelligence to make deceptive claims.