Journalist files class action against Grammarly for using her name in AI feature without consent

Grammarly used the names, images, and professional authority of real journalists in its "Expert Review" AI feature for several months — all without any permission from them. Now the company faces a class action suit from one of the victims. Investigative journalist Julia Angwin filed suit against Superhuman Platform Inc. — the company behind Grammarly — on Wednesday. The document claims that Superhuman violated laws regarding the right to publicity and privacy by using real people's identities for commercial purposes without their consent. The suit is filed as a class action, meaning it potentially covers all "experts" whose names appeared in the feature.

The "Expert Review" feature was positioned as a way to get AI suggestions for improving text, supposedly based on the style and approaches of real authoritative authors. The problem is that these authors had no idea about their participation. Angwin learned that her name was being used from journalist Casey Newton — who himself turned out to be on the list of "experts" discovered by The Verge publication.

Earlier, The Verge published an investigation documenting Grammarly's use of real journalists' names without permission. After the publication, the company did not provide an extensive comment on the situation. Now it has received a full-fledged lawsuit, which could become a precedent for the entire industry.

This story raises a sharp question that the AI industry has so far preferred to sidestep: where is the line between "inspiration from an author" and illegal commercial use of their identity? Grammarly didn't simply train its model on texts — it embedded real names in the product as a marketing tool. This is precisely what transforms a technical question into a legal one.

The outcome of the lawsuit could determine how AI companies will be allowed to use the reputation of real people in the future.