Google has filed a lawsuit aimed at dismantling what it describes as a Chinese cybercrime operation that used artificial intelligence to scale up phishing attacks. The company says the group, which it identifies as Outsider Enterprise, relied on Gemini and other AI tools to generate fake text-message campaigns and build spoofed websites designed to steal sensitive information.
According to Google, the alleged operation used government and brand lookalike websites, along with trademarks and logos, to trick people into handing over credit card details and personal data. The company said the messages behind the scheme resembled the kind of alerts many users have grown used to seeing, including package notices, banking warnings and claims that an account has been compromised.
Google said more than 100,000 Americans may have been affected and estimated the resulting losses in the millions of dollars. It also said the group is tied to more than 9,000 fake websites and roughly one million fraudulent URLs.
The lawsuit is part of a broader response to what Google sees as a fast-growing security problem created by generative AI. As the technology becomes easier to use, it has also become easier for scammers to produce convincing lures at scale, the company argues. In this case, Google says the alleged network used AI to automate and expand phishing efforts that would have been harder to carry out manually.
The company said it is working with the FBI as part of the effort against Outsider Enterprise. It is also collaborating with telecom providers including AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon to stop scam texts before they reach consumers.
Halimah DeLaine Prado, Google’s general counsel, told The New York Times that the company believes this is its first coordinated campaign and lawsuit of this kind. She said the scale of the activity shows how broad the impact of the scam has been.
Google is also supporting seven bipartisan bills intended to curb AI-enabled scams. Those proposals include measures focused on protecting older adults and on increasing public awareness and education about AI-related fraud.
The legal complaint follows other anti-scam steps from Google in recent weeks. In early June, the company rolled out fake call detection for Android devices, a feature meant to flag suspected spoofed calls. Google said Android users also reported 55,000 spam texts over a two-week period in May, while more than 2.5 million messages linked to the organization were sent to Android users during the same period.
The case highlights a growing tension around generative AI. The same tools that can help detect fraud and strengthen defenses can also be used to make scams more believable and harder to stop. Google’s latest move suggests the company is trying to address both sides of that problem by combining litigation, technical defenses and policy advocacy.
For now, the lawsuit places one of the most prominent AI companies directly in the middle of the wider debate over how rapidly powerful models should be deployed, and how much harm can be done when those tools are used for deception at scale.