Michael Schumacher’s family has won €200,000 (£170,212) in compensation from the publishers of a magazine that published an artificial intelligence-generated interview with the legendary driver last year.
F1 icon Schumacher – who won seven world championships – was involved in a skiing accident in December 2013 that left him in a medically induced coma. He has not appeared in public since.
The German is being cared for by a team of medical staff and his wife Corinna at their home on Lake Geneva, but little has been made public about his condition.
However, the German publication Die Aktuelle published an interview with Schumacher in April 2023, with a photo of him on the front cover of the edition.
Die Aktuelle published the piece under the headline ‘Michael Schumacher, the first interview’, while the slogan ‘it sounded deceptively real’ could also be heard.
Michael Schumacher’s family has won €200,000 (£170,212) in compensation from the publishers of a magazine that published an artificial intelligence-generated interview with him
German magazine Die Aktuelle claimed to have had an ‘exclusive interview’ with Schumacher last year
Schumacher (pictured in 2005) has not appeared in public since a 2013 skiing accident
Yet it turned out that Schumacher’s supposed quotes in the interview were produced by AI.
The article was widely condemned at the time, with the editor of Die Aktuelle, owned by Essen-based media group Funke, fired two days later, while Funke also apologized to Schumacher’s family, who vowed to take legal action.
And on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Schumacher family confirmed the news of the subsequent €200,000 compensation judgment.
Given the secrecy surrounding Schumacher’s condition, with it becoming clear that many of the family’s close friends and associates are even unsure about the state of his health, heads were turned when Die Aktuelle published the ‘exclusive interview’ on April 15 last year. published.
The article opened: ‘Talk to him sometime. Ask him how he is really doing. And finally got answers almost 10 years after his tragic skiing accident.
‘No thin, vague half-sentences from friends. But answers from him! By Michael Schumacher, 54!
‘Here it is: the incredible interview! With redeeming answers to the most burning questions that the whole world has been asking for so long.’
The article, which did not include a byline, continued before ending with an admission that the quotes are in fact fake and that Schumacher or anyone else in the family had not been spoken to.
‘Did Michael Schumacher really say everything himself? The interview was online. On a page related to artificial intelligence, or AI for short,” the widely derided piece concluded.
F1 fans condemned the magazine for its ‘lack of decency’ and ’embarrassment’ in claiming to have spoken to Schumacher.
Schumacher’s wife Corinna (pictured skiing together in 2005) has kept his condition private
Die Aktuelle was widely condemned for claiming to have spoken to Schumacher
Schumacher is one of the most successful F1 drivers of all time. He won the world title in 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. He also added 71 fastest laps and 155 podium finishes to his name during his iconic racing career. .
But despite his ongoing health struggles, Schumacher’s family remains very protective of his privacy.
However, in the Netflix documentary ‘Schumacher’, which aired in 2021, his wife Corinna provided a rare update.
She revealed he is still undergoing rehabilitation for the life-changing injuries he suffered and claimed he is now ‘different, but here’.