One of Grammarly’s ‘experts’ is suing the company over its identity-stealing AI feature
TL;DR
Grammarly used the identities of real journalists and experts for its 'Expert Review' AI feature for months – without their consent.
Key Points
- Journalist Julia Angwin filed a class-action lawsuit after learning via colleague Casey Newton that her identity was being used commercially.
- The suit targets Superhuman (Grammarly's parent company), citing laws against using someone's identity for commercial purposes without permission.
- The Verge had previously exposed the feature, finding that even its own staff were listed as unwitting 'experts'.
Nauti's Take
Grammarly built a classic dark pattern on steroids here: real names, real reputations – but zero real consent. That's not an oversight, that's a business decision.
Especially ironic: among the 'experts' were journalists who cover tech – exactly the people who expose this kind of thing. The 'we just wanted to improve quality' defense falls flat when you're commercially monetizing someone else's identity without asking.
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