【AI前沿】Legal fail: Don’t use AI to sue Facebook users for calling you a bad date

Did AI do that?Legal fail: Don’t use AI to sue Facebook users for calling you a bad dateFake citations dashed a dude’s “Are We Dating the Same Guy” revenge lawsuit.Ashley Belanger–May 18, 2026 4:27 pm|47Credit:pikepicture | iStock / Getty Images PlusCredit:pikepicture | iStock / Getty Images PlusText settingsStory textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidthStandardWideLinksStandardOrange Subscribers onlyLearn moreMinimize to navAn attempt to pressure Meta into removing a critical post from a Chicago Facebook group called “Are We Dating the Same Guy” may end in sanctions for lawyers whose takedown arguments appeared to rely on fake AI citations to support doxing claims.The case had already been dismissed with prejudice by a district court, which ruled there was no way to amend the complaint to possibly save it. But Nikko D’Ambrosio—who accused more than two dozen women of defaming him and blamed Meta for supposedly boosting the post to profit off its “entertainment value”—appealed anyway.Perhaps he felt confident despite his likely tough odds because he was relying on MarcTrent.AI, a law firm thatclaimsto use AI to “uncover legal opportunities traditional firms miss” and “increase legal success rates by 35 percent through predictive modeling.”In a 2025blogdiscussing the case, founder Marc Trent confirmed that the firm had “utilized our tech team to draft” the initial complaint. He boasted that the “evolved” firm uses “everything related to AI now,” suggesting that “even Meta can’t beat us” and claiming that a win would make Facebook safer for everyone.Laying out the case, Trent said that he assumed that Meta “would quickly distance itself by removing the post.” But when Meta didn’t, he figured that overcoming Section 230 claims would be his biggest hurdle in the fight. However, he insisted that “his firm’s technological capabilities” would level the playing field, making it possible to beat Meta’s well-resourced legal teams who are deeply schooled at defending against Section 230 claims.However, during the appeal, judges agreed that the case was so weak that Section 230 didn’t even factor in. And the firm’s seeming reliance on AI to “execute” arguments “with precision” apparently did not help matters at all.In anopinionFriday, David Hamilton, a senior circuit judge for the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, wrote that the three-judge panel agreed that “this is a relatively rare appeal in which sanctions appear to be appropriate.” Not only was the appeal deemed “frivolous” for failing to advance D’Ambrosio’s arguments, but it was also littered with “mistakes and fictitious quotations” that “bear the hallmarks of the misuse of generative artificial intelligence,” Hamilton said.“Briefs and other court submissions that include fictitious quotations—inaccuracies discoverable with elementary professional care—are unacceptable,” Hamilton wrote.MarcTrent.AI did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment on whether the firm plans to fight the potential sanctions.The firm has until June 16 to request a hearing or file statements on whether sanctions are warranted.Man fails to scrub menacing text from FacebookD’Ambrosio’s legal fight started when a woman whom he briefly dated, Abbigail Rajala, blocked his number, and he persisted in sending a menacing text by using an alternate number.Screenshot of text D’Ambrosio wanted removed from Facebook.Credit: via Judge’s Opinion in D’Ambrosio v MetaScreenshot of text D’Ambrosio wanted removed from Facebook.Credit:

      via Judge's Opinion in D'Ambrosio v MetaRajala posted a screenshot of the text in a thread where more than two dozen women started sharing photos of D’Ambrosio and criticizing him. Importantly, Rajala did not urge any call to action, like contacting his family or employer, or reveal his phone number or any other identifying information.Since the post was popular, it stuck to the top of the Facebook group’s feed, frustrating D’Ambrosio, who tried to claim that Meta was disregarding his safety by promoting the post.None of his arguments won out, but D’Ambrosio was hoping the court would agree that Rajala—and her parents, since she posted using their home Internet connection—had doxed him. He also tried to accuse Meta of profiting off his likeness by running ads alongside the post.Additionally, he tried to blame Rajala for another woman’s reply on the thread, which linked to a mug shot of a convicted rapist. Despite the mug shot link displaying another man’s name and photo, D’Ambrosio claimed he had been defamed and had “suffered emotional distress, emotional loss, loss of professional opportunities, and damage to his reputation and relationships.”His goal, Hamilton’s opinion noted, was to sue “anyone remotely associated with those posts for all possible, imaginable claims, including the woman who dated him and her parents, women commenting on posts, the operators of the Facebook group, and Face