Gautam gets serious on 'fake Gambhirs', moves court over AI deepfake misuse

Indian men's cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has filed a lawsuit in the Delhi high court seeking relief against what he described as misuse of his identity through artificial intelligence (AI) tools, deepfakes, and unauthorised commercial use, news agency ANI reported on Thursday.

In his petition, Gambhir has named multiple social media accounts, intermediaries and e-commerce platforms as defendants. He has sought a permanent injunction to restrain them from using his name, image, voice or persona without his consent.

The suit is filed against 16 defendants including identified social media accounts (JanKey Frames, Bhupendra Paintola, Legends Revolution, gustakhedits, cricket_memer45, GemsOfCrickets, Crickaith, Sunny Upadhyay, @imRavY_), e-commerce platforms (Amazon, Flipkart), platform intermediaries (Meta Platforms Inc.,

X Corp., Google LLC / YouTube), and the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology and Department of Telecommunications as proforma parties to facilitate implementation of any court order, the ANI report said.The former BJP MP has also requested an immediate ex-parte ad-interim injunction for the removal of all such content and to stop further circulation while the case is under consideration.The petition also seeks damages of Rs 2.5 crore along with rendition of accounts.

According to the plea, there has been a rise since late 2025 in fabricated digital content created using AI tools such as face-swapping and voice cloning, which allegedly show him making statements he never made.The filing states that some of these videos — including a fake resignation announcement and fabricated remarks on senior cricketers — received lakhs of views, which, according to him, misled the public and affected his reputation.Gambhir has also alleged that his identity has been used for commercial purposes through the sale of unauthorised merchandise on e-commerce platforms without any permission or licensing.The suit has been filed against 16 defendants, including social media accounts, intermediaries such as platform operators and e-commerce entities. Government authorities have been included as pro forma parties to ensure implementation of any court directions.The petition invokes provisions under the Copyright Act, Trade Marks Act and Commercial Courts Act. It also relies on judicial precedents that recognise personality and publicity rights as enforceable, including in cases involving AI-based misuse.Highlighting the issue, Gambhir has stated that his identity has been "weaponised" by anonymous accounts to spread misinformation and generate revenue, adding that the matter raises concerns beyond personal harm, including issues of dignity and legal protection in the context of artificial intelligence.The matter is expected to come up before the Delhi high court in the coming days for consideration of interim relief.