Meta Platforms has now reportedly reached a settlement with Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist who accused the social media giant’s artificial intelligence of falsely labeling him as a participant in the January 6 Capitol riots.
While the specific terms remain confidential, the agreement marks an unusual public collaboration between a Big Tech company and one of its vocal critics on the politically charged issue of bias in artificial intelligence.
Starbuck, a filmmaker and political commentator known for his opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, filed his lawsuit on April 29.
He had sought more than $5 million in damages after Meta’s AI generated content that, he claimed, defamed him by associating him with the 2021 events in Washington.
Under the settlement, Starbuck and Meta will work jointly to address what both describe as the broader problem of “ideological and political bias” in AI systems. In a joint statement, the parties said: “Both parties have resolved this matter to our mutual satisfaction.
Since engaging on these important issues with Robby, Meta has made tremendous strides to improve the accuracy of Meta AI and mitigate ideological and political bias.”
The statement added that Starbuck and the company “will work collaboratively in the coming months to continue to find ways to address issues of ideological and political bias and minimize the risk that the model returns hallucinations in response to user queries.”
For Starbuck, the settlement represents more than a personal vindication. Appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday, he said that both he and Meta recognized the potential for the same kind of error to affect millions of users. “That was always the point of my lawsuit — is fix this for everybody so this doesn’t become a massive, you know, really terrible story in the future where AI affects elections in ways that no one is comfortable with,” he said.
Starbuck declined to go into detail about the terms, saying only that he was still working out the specifics of the collaboration. On social media, he framed the outcome as a victory for fairness in the digital public square: “Delivering fairness for consumers is the outcome I’ve always wanted and I’m pleased to do the work to make that a reality. As we move into a future where AI dominates many parts of our world, now you know that you have an unshakable voice at the table to advocate for ideological fairness.”
Meta, which has faced years of criticism from conservatives who say its platforms suppress right-leaning voices.
But the company’s chief global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, had publicly apologized to Starbuck on April 30, shortly after the lawsuit was filed.
“Robby – I watched your video – this is unacceptable,” Kaplan posted on X. “This is clearly not how our AI should operate. We’re sorry for the results it shared about you and that the fix we put in place didn’t address the underlying problem.”
While the settlement stops short of an admission of wrongdoing, it signals a rare acknowledgment from one of Silicon Valley’s largest firms that political bias in AI is a legitimate concern — and one worth addressing before the technology plays an even greater role in shaping public opinion and elections.
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