United States of America: Issued interim consent order in FTC investigation into DoNotPay for alleged misrepresentation of AI legal services

On 25 September 2024, the Federal Trade Commission released an interim consent order with DoNotPay, a company specialising in online legal services and chatbots, as part of its investigation into the company's alleged misrepresentation of AI legal services. The order prohibits DoNotPay from making misleading and unsubstantiated representations regarding the functionality and performance of its services, particularly claims that its product operates like a human lawyer or can analyse legal situations with expertise. Additionally, DoNotPay is required to pay USD 193'000 to the FTC as monetary relief within 30 days. The order further mandates that DoNotPay identify and notify all eligible customers who subscribed to the service between 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2023 on the limitations of law-related features on the service within 180 days of the order's issuance. Prior to final confirmation, the consent order will be subject to a period of public comments.