Michael Schumacher's family has been awarded €200,000 ($217,000) by a German magazine that claimed an AI-generated interview was actually an exclusive with the Formula One legend himself.
Last April, Die Aktuelle ran a front cover spread promising an exclusive interview with Schumacher, who has not been seen in public since suffering a serious brain injury in a December 2013 skiing accident.
At the end of the article, it was revealed to have been entirely fabricated by AI. The Schumacher family took legal action and have confirmed to ESPN the settlement, confirmed by the Munich Labor Court.
The compensation was paid by Funke media group, who last year apologised to the Schumacher family and terminated the contract of the editor-in-chief responsible for the article's publication.
Since the accident, the Schumacher's have gone to great lengths to ensure Michael's privacy, with access closely guarded. He is believed to be at the family's home in Switzerland.
The family was even reserved with information about his condition in a recent Netflix documentary about his life and career, which saw him win 91 races and seven world championships and become the sport's most successful driver.
Die Aktuelle has a history with the Schumachers. In 2014, the magazine posted a picture of Michael and wife Corinna on the front cover, with the headline "Awake," only for the piece in question to have been about people who have awoken from comas in the past.
The magazine also won a legal case against the Schumachers the next year after a front cover saying "a new love" had entered Corinna's life, only for the article to be about the couple's daughter, Gina.
