You can’t achieve it if you disbelieve it. “It” being a replica of the real thing.
Motivational speaker Tony Robbins has filed a federal lawsuit against YesChat, accusing the AI chatbot platform of creating unauthorized bots that mimic his persona and sell access to his copyrighted content. The case represents the first known legal challenge by a celebrity against AI chatbot replicas, setting a potential precedent for how public figures can protect their digital likeness and intellectual property in the AI era.
What you should know: Robbins discovered multiple unauthorized bots on YesChat using his name and trademark, including “Talk to Tony Robbins,” “Tony Robbins GPT,” and “Tony Robbins Español GPT.”
- The bots allegedly ingested content from Robbins’ seminars and other copyrighted materials, essentially reselling his expertise under his trademarked name.
- YesChat offers paid subscription tiers ranging from $8 to $40 per month, giving users access to 200,000 GPTs, including celebrity impersonators.
- The unauthorized bots directly compete with Robbins’ official AI clone, which he offers on his website for $99 per month.
Legal groundwork: The lawsuit, filed June 26 in federal court in San Diego, seeks substantial damages under multiple legal theories.
- Robbins is claiming federal trademark violations, false advertising, and violations of California‘s right of publicity law.
- The suit demands at least $10 million in compensatory damages for unfair competition, plus $2 million for each trademark violation, plus punitive damages for “willful and malicious misconduct.”
- YesChat and its parent companies InnoLeap and Mira Muse have not responded to cease and desist letters or the lawsuit.
Why this case is different: Attorney Brian Wolf, who filed the suit, distinguishes this from typical AI copyright cases that focus on training data usage.
- “Those cases are different than this case, where they’re mimicking and recreating a virtual persona of a well known individual and advertising it as such,” Wolf explained.
- While AI companies have had some success arguing that training on copyrighted material constitutes “fair use,” this case centers on unauthorized commercial use of a specific person’s identity and brand.
The bigger picture: YesChat operates a marketplace of celebrity AI impersonators without apparent authorization, featuring bots mimicking Larry David, Stephen King, and Roger Ebert alongside hundreds of others.
- The platform’s business model relies on users paying monthly fees to access these celebrity-branded chatbots, creating direct commercial value from unauthorized use of public figures’ names and personas.
- Wolf’s law firm, Lavely & Singer, represents “innumerable celebrities and public figures” and takes an “aggressive approach” to protecting clients’ digital rights, suggesting more lawsuits may follow.
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