Michael Schumacher’s family has won a case against a publisher that printed an AI-generated interview attributed to the F1 legend.
The 55-year-old German racer hasn’t been seen in public – yet alone spoken to the media – for over a decade since suffering a catastrophic brain injury while skiing.
However, German tabloid Die Aktuelle published what it said were quotes from Schumacher generated by artificial intelligence.
It said they sounded “deceptively real” – and on its cover boasted: “Michael Schumacher, the first interview!”
The magazine’s publisher – Funke media group – apologised to the family and sacked Die Aktuelle’s editor when the article came out in April 2023.
It said the “tasteless and misleading article” should “never have appeared”.
Family spokesperson Sabine Kehm confirmed that the family had been successful in their legal action against the publisher. She didn’t elaborate further, but the compensation was reportedly €200,000 (£170,000).
Schumacher’s family have maintained strict privacy since the December 2013 accident.
It’s known that he is being cared for at a family home in Switzerland, but his exact condition 10 years on from the near-fatal accident is unknown.
The published apologised and sacked an editor when the magazine came out
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Schumacher’s wife, Corinna, said in a 2021 Netflix documentary they were “trying to carry on as a family”.
“It’s very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible,” she said.
“Michael always protected us, and now we are protecting Michael.”
Schumacher’s son, Mick, who recently had a stint in Formula One, said in the same documentary: “I think dad and me, we would understand each other in a different way now.
“We would have had much more to talk about and that is where my head is most of the time, thinking that would be so cool. I would give up everything just for that.”
Schumacher, a seven-time Formula One champion, hit a rock and split open his helmet in the December 2013 fall in Meribel, France.
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Doctors removed blood clots, but others were left untouched because they were too deeply embedded in his brain.
Schumacher is an icon of the sport and dominated for years, winning 91 races, including five consecutive titles with Ferrari between 2000 and 2004.
The German driver’s other two titles were with Benetton in 1994 and 1995.
His seven F1 titles are a record he shares with Briton’s Sir Lewis Hamilton.