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Taylor Swift tried to sue Microsoft over racist ‘Tay’ chatbot, reveals tech boss



Taylor Swift tried to sue Microsoft over a chatbot which posted a series of racist messages online, the company’s president has revealed.

The singer’s lawyers made a move on Microsoft in 2016, according to a new autobiogrpahy by tech boss Brad Smith.

Swift was reportedly displeased by Microsoft’s chatbot Tay, which was designed to interact with 18 to 24-year-olds because it was similar to her own name.

Microsoft’s AI bot was launched in 2016 and was designed to learn from social media conversations.

(JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images)

However, TayTweets turned racist with users receiving  offensive remarks including support for genocide and holocaust denial.

Microsoft issued an apology and took Tay offline with 18 hours of the first alarming comments being sent by the Twitter bot.

According to The Guardian, the 29-year-old’s legal action wasn’t focused on the comments the chatbot made online, but rather about the similarity to her own name.

In an extract from his new book Tools and Weapons, Smith writes: “I was on vacation when I made the mistake of looking at my phone during dinner.

“An email had just arrived from a Beverly Hills lawyer who introduced himself by telling me: ‘We represent Taylor Swift, on whose behalf this is directed to you.’

(Jose Perez / SplashNews.com)

“The name Tay, as I’m sure you must know, is closely associated with our client’.”

Smith added: “No, I actually didn’t know, but the email nonetheless grabbed my attention.”

The tech boss said the solicitor argued that the name ‘Tay’ was a legal violation and “created a false and misleading association between the popular singer and our chatbot.”

Standard Online has contacted representatives for Taylor Swift for comment. 

This is not the first time that the Blank Space hitmaker’s legal team have cracked down hard on someone who has come close to the singer’s intellectual property rights.

Her name, signature and initials are already trademarked and in 2015, she attempted to trademark lyrics from her album, 1989.

 



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