The Aachen Regional Court has ordered Google to stop showing three false AI-generated statements about a physician, reinforcing an emerging German view that AI search answers are Google’s own content rather than neutral links to third-party material. Violations can draw fines of up to €250,000 each.
Google’s AI had attributed allegations involving another former university professor to the doctor, including a sexual-assault claim and supposed legal proceedings. The physician notified Google in August and later sent a formal demand, but the disputed text remained available. The court issued an emergency order because the claims could seriously damage his professional reputation. Google can challenge the injunction, so the decision is not final.
The ruling explicitly follows reasoning used by the Munich Regional Court in May, when AI Overviews falsely connected two publishers to fraud schemes. Google announced an appeal in that case but settled before a higher court reviewed the decision. That means Germany still lacks binding appellate guidance. Even so, two trial courts have now rejected the idea that Google merely passes along information when its system generates an answer. If that interpretation survives appeal, AI search providers could face direct responsibility for factual errors rather than the more limited duties traditionally applied to search indexes.