Google AI class action overview:
- Who: Plaintiff Thomas Thele filed a class action lawsuit against Google LLC.
- Why: Thele alleges Google turned on its Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) program for all users without their knowledge or consent.
- Where: The Google AI class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.
A new class action lawsuit alleges Google secretly turned on its Gemini artificial intelligence program for all users’ Gmail, Chat and Meet accounts, thus enabling AI to track users’ private communications without their knowledge or consent.
Plaintiff Thomas Thele filed the class action complaint against Google on Nov. 11 in California federal court, alleging violations of state and federal privacy laws.
According to the lawsuit, Google secretly enabled its Gemini AI program on Oct. 10, 2025, for all users of its popular services, including Gmail, Chat and Meet.
Thele claims that the AI program now tracks users’ private communications by default, without their knowledge or consent.
Thele’s lawsuit alleges that Google’s actions violate users’ reasonable expectations of privacy and various privacy laws.
He claims Google users must now proactively disable this AI tracking feature, which was previously an optional setting.
Google AI tracking violates multiple laws, class action claims
Google’s Gemini AI program was initially introduced as an optional “Smart” feature designed to enhance user experience by personalizing services, the class action lawsuit says.
However, Thele claims Google’s decision to make this feature default without user consent has sparked privacy concerns.
The Gemini AI program allegedly accesses and exploits users’ entire history of private communications, including every email and attachment sent and received in Gmail accounts.
Thele claims Google’s actions have deprived users of their right to send and receive private communications without being tracked.
The lawsuit alleges that Google’s conduct violates the California Invasion of Privacy Act, the California Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, the Stored Communications Act and California’s constitutional right to privacy.
Thele claims Google’s actions also constitute an unlawful intrusion upon seclusion.
The plaintiff is looking to represent anyone in the United States with a Google account whose private communications in Gmail, Chat and/or Meet were tracked by Google’s Gemini AI after the company turned on “Smart features” in those persons’ data privacy account settings.
He is suing for violations of privacy laws and seeks certification of the class action, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial.
Meanwhile, Google and YouTube recently agreed to pay $30 million to settle a long-running class action lawsuit claiming they unlawfully collected data from children under 13 to deliver targeted ads without parental consent.
What do you think of the allegations made in this Google AI class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by Tina Wolfson, Robert Ahdoot, Theodore W. Maya, Alyssa D. Brown and Bradley K. King of Ahdoot & Wolfson P.C.
The Google AI class action lawsuit is Thele v. Google LLC, Case No. 5:25-cv-09704, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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