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Medium reported severity Lawsuit Settled

German magazine printed an AI-generated 'interview' with Michael Schumacher; publisher apologised and his family later won 200,000 euros

In April 2023 the German weekly Die Aktuelle (Funke media group) ran a front cover with a picture of Michael Schumacher and the headline 'Michael Schumacher, the first interview', with a strapline saying it sounded deceptively real; inside, the quotes attributed to him had been produced by artificial intelligence. Schumacher has not been seen in public since a serious brain injury in December 2013, and his family keeps his condition private. The family announced legal action; Funke called the article tasteless and misleading, apologised and relieved the editor-in-chief of her duties. In May 2024 a family spokeswoman confirmed a Munich Labour Court judgement and a settlement by Funke, with compensation of 200,000 euros reported by Reuters and, as a reported figure, by the AP. The sources read do not name the AI tool the magazine used.

AI system
Unidentified AI writing tool
Occurred
Apr 2023
Reported
20 April 2023
Event location
Germany
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Reputational Harm
Whose AI use
An institution’s AI use
Setting
Privacy · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 5 sources, 4 underlying accounts
6 claims: 6 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: AI text generation used by the magazine Die Aktuelle to produce the quotes attributed to Michael Schumacher (tool not named in the sources read)

What Happened

The article. Die Aktuelle, a weekly celebrity magazine owned by the Funke media group, ran a front cover in April 2023 with a picture of a smiling Michael Schumacher and the headline 'Michael Schumacher, the first interview'. A strapline said it sounded deceptively real. Inside, the quotes attributed to Schumacher had been produced by AI, according to Reuters, Sky Sports and the AP.

Context. Schumacher has not been seen in public since a serious brain injury in a skiing accident in December 2013, and his family keeps his condition private, with access limited to those closest to him (Reuters).

Response. A family spokesperson told Reuters that legal action would be taken. Funke apologised on its website: its magazines managing director said the 'tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared' and that the editor-in-chief would be relieved of her duties.

Outcome. In May 2024 a family spokeswoman confirmed to Reuters a Munich Labour Court judgement and a settlement by Funke, without further comment; Reuters reports 200,000 euros in compensation, and the AP, quoting family spokesperson Sabine Kehm that the legal action was successful, gives the amount as reportedly 200,000 euros. GrandPrix.com, relaying Ubermedien, says the payment was linked to a ruling of the Munich labour court in the dismissed editor's case and that she argued successfully that her dismissal was not legally valid.

Limits. The sources read do not name the AI tool, publish the AI-generated text, or explain why a labour court was involved in the settlement. The family made no statement about effects beyond confirming the outcome.

Reported harm

Reuters and the AP report that the magazine published AI-generated quotes attributed to Michael Schumacher as his first interview; his family took legal action, Funke apologised for the tasteless and misleading article, and the family received compensation reported as 200,000 euros.

How Harm Occurred

The magazine used AI to generate quotes that it attributed to Michael Schumacher and promoted on its cover as his first interview, publishing invented statements in the name of a man whose family keeps his health private; the family took legal action and received compensation from the publisher.

Outcome

Resolved

Funke apologised in a statement on its website and relieved the editor-in-chief of her duties (April 2023). In May 2024 a family spokeswoman confirmed a Munich Labour Court judgement and a settlement by Funke; Reuters reports 200,000 euros in compensation and the AP reports the amount as reportedly 200,000 euros. GrandPrix.com, relaying the media-law outlet Ubermedien, says the dismissed editor argued successfully that her dismissal was not legally valid; that claim was not confirmed in another source read.

What remains unknown

  • Which AI tool the magazine used and how the quotes were produced.
  • The exact issue date and the text of the AI-generated interview.
  • Why the settlement was confirmed through a labour court, and the terms of the judgement.
  • Whether the dismissed editor's claim succeeded as Ubermedien reports.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. Reuters, Sky Sports and the AP report that the quotes the magazine attributed to Michael Schumacher and presented as his first interview had been generated by AI, which emerged inside the issue. The AI-generated statements were the published impersonation that led the family to take legal action and the publisher to apologise and pay compensation. The tool is not named in the sources read.

6 claims: 6 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Die Aktuelle ran a front cover in April 2023 promising 'Michael Schumacher, the first interview', with a strapline saying it sounded deceptively real, and the quotes attributed to Schumacher inside had been generated by AI.

Causal attribution. Reuters and AP describe the magazine's own presentation; the AI tool is not named.

  • cyprus-mail.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    Die Aktuelle ran a front cover in April 2023 with a picture of a smiling Schumacher and the headline promising ‘Michael Schumacher, the first interview’.
  • skysports.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    A strapline added: "it sounded deceptively real". Inside, it emerged the quotes had been produced by AI.
  • lbc.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
    German magazine Die Aktuelle promoted on its cover in April 2023 the words “Michael Schumacher, the first interview!” It also wrote “it sounds deceptively real” with the supposed quotes attributed to Schumacher generated by AI.
Reported Schumacher has not been seen in public since a serious brain injury in December 2013, and his family keeps his condition private.

Causal attribution. Context reported by Reuters.

  • cyprus-mail.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    Ferrari great Schumacher, now 55, has not been seen in public since he suffered a serious brain injury in a skiing accident on a family holiday in the French Alps in December 2013. Schumacher’s family maintains strict privacy about the former driver’s condition, with access limited to those closest to him.
Reported A spokesperson for Schumacher's family confirmed to Reuters in April 2023 that legal action would be taken against the magazine.

Causal attribution. Family spokesperson via Reuters.

  • skysports.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    Michael Schumacher's family is to take legal action against a German magazine that ran an 'interview' with the seven-time world champion that was generated by artificial intelligence. ... A spokesperson for the family confirmed to news agency Reuters that legal action would be taken.
Reported Funke apologised in a statement on its website, calling the article tasteless and misleading, and said the editor-in-chief of Die Aktuelle would be relieved of her duties.

Causal attribution. Publisher's statement as quoted by Sky Sports.

  • skysports.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    Funke apologised in a statement on its website www.funkemedien.de. "This tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared. It in no way meets the standards of journalism that we and our readers expect from a publisher like Funke," said Funke magazines managing director Bianca Pohlmann. ... "Die Aktuelle editor-in-chief Anne Hoffmann, who has held journalistic responsibility for the paper since 2009, will be relieved of her duties as of today."
Reported In May 2024 a family spokeswoman confirmed a Munich Labour Court judgement and a settlement by Funke; Reuters reports compensation of 200,000 euros and the AP reports the amount as reportedly 200,000 euros.

Causal attribution. Family spokesperson to two agencies (one witness); the judgement itself was not read.

  • cyprus-mail.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    Michael Schumacher’s family has secured 200,000 euros compensation from the publishers of a German magazine that printed an AI-generated ‘interview’ with the seven times Formula One world champion. A family spokeswoman on Wednesday confirmed a Munich Labour Court judgement and settlement by Funke media group, publishers of the magazine Die Aktuelle, without making any further comment.
  • lbc.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
    Family spokesperson Sabine Kehm told The Associated Press that legal action was successful, without making any further comment. The compensation amount was reportedly 200,000 euros (£170,000).
Reported GrandPrix.com, relaying Ubermedien, says the payment was linked to a ruling of the Munich labour court and that the dismissed editor argued successfully that her dismissal was not legally valid.

Causal attribution. Second-hand claim from Ubermedien; not confirmed in another source read.

  • grandprix.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    But Ubermedien, a publication focused on legal issues within the media, now claims that it was not enough for the Schumacher family. It emerges that Funke will also have to pay 200,000 euros to the Schumachers, aided by a ruling of the Landesarbeitsgericht - the Munich labour court. However, the publication also claims that fired editor-in-chief Hoffmann successfully argued that she was wrongfully dismissed, with the court describing the firing as not legally valid.

Sources

5 sources inspected, from 4 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-31 (HTTP 200): Cyprus Mail copy of a Reuters report dated 23 May 2024. Applies to s1.

Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-31 (HTTP 200, published 20 Apr 2023). Its family confirmation came from Reuters, so it shares Reuters' group. Applies to s2.

Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-31 (HTTP 200, published 22 Apr 2023). It quotes Funke's statement published on funkemedien.de, which was not read directly. Applies to s3.

Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-31 (HTTP 200): LBC copy of an Associated Press report dated 23 May 2024. Applies to s4.

Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-31 (HTTP 200, published 22 May 2024). It relays the German media-law outlet Ubermedien, which was not read. Applies to s5.

Event countries: Germany. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: Germany.

Die Aktuelle is a German magazine published by the Essen-based Funke media group, and the settlement was confirmed with a Munich Labour Court judgement (Reuters, Sky Sports). Where Schumacher lives is not stated in the sources read.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-31: Published because Reuters and the AP report that a magazine printed AI-generated quotes as an interview with Michael Schumacher, and that his family took legal action, received an apology and later secured compensation confirmed by his family's spokeswoman.

People described

Michael Schumacher, the former Formula One driver, to whom the magazine attributed AI-generated quotes, and his family, who brought the legal action

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One counted: Michael Schumacher, to whom the AI-generated quotes were attributed and on whose behalf his family brought the legal action. Family members are not counted separately because no source describes an individual effect on them. The dismissed editor is not counted as a harmed person in this case.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#ai-generated-interview#fabricated-quotes#celebrity-magazine#privacy#settlement#germany

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). German magazine printed an AI-generated 'interview' with Michael Schumacher; publisher apologised and his family later won 200,000 euros. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2023-germany-magazine-printed-ai-generated-michael-schumacher-interview-family-won-compensation

BibTeX

@misc{2023_germany_magazine_printed_ai_generated_michael_schumacher_interview_family_won_compensation,
  title = {German magazine printed an AI-generated 'interview' with Michael Schumacher; publisher apologised and his family later won 200,000 euros},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2023-germany-magazine-printed-ai-generated-michael-schumacher-interview-family-won-compensation}
}

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