SAN DIEGO, CA—Benjamin Schenk, a partner with The Schenk Law Firm, has been appointed by the San Francisco Superior Court to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In re ChatGPT Product Liability Cases, Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding (JCCP) No. 5431 – a coordinated proceeding that involves landmark litigation against artificial intelligence (AI) companies.
The proceeding is among the first in the country to ask whether a generative AI chatbot is subject to traditional liability law. According to court documents, it brings together more than twenty lawsuits filed in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Alameda and San Diego counties with plaintiffs from across the country. The cases name OpenAI and, in some complaints, Microsoft as defendants and allege ChatGPT harmed users by failing to provide adequate safeguards for people in mental health crises. The claims include design defect, failure to warn, negligence, wrongful death and the unlicensed practice of medicine. OpenAI has disputed the allegations.
Frederick Schenk, managing partner of The Schenk Law Firm, noted that Benjamin Schenk will play an integral role in helping all the victims of AI chatbot harm.
