A rapper and entrepreneur said that a competitor procured an interview with him that was generated by artificial intelligence and committed “slander” and “defamation” against him.
Gilbert Milam Jr., aka Berner, is a rapper and a cannabis entrepreneur whose company Cookies was valued at $500 million by Forbes in 2020. The has brand opened multiple dispensaries and clothing outlets across the United States.
The artist faced lawsuits in 2023 that accused him of a litany of bad business practices, the Los Angeles Times reported. These lawsuits were the basis of the alleged AI-generated interview with the rapper.
Business website Benzinga published an article on November 12, 2023, that detailed a supposed print interview between Berner and author David Daxsen.
According to an archived version of the story, questions to Berner were posed as being direct from the author to the rapper.
The most damaging alleged questions included “concerns about a potential link between cannabis and children.”
After that, the author alleged that he asked the rapper about “allegations regarding [his] involvement in human trafficking and sexual exploitation, as well as derogatory comments in YouTube interviews.”
After Milam Jr. himself declared the interview to be “not real,” reporter Grant Smith Ellis asked if any of the article’s quotes could be attributed to him.
“Absolutely not ! Not one word is mine,” the rapper replied on X. “That’s why I’ve always done my own quotes or interviews in my own voice. That ain’t me at all,” he added.
Smith Ellis then reportedly ran the article through an AI-detector, which seemingly flagged both the questions and answers as being potentially written by AI.
On November 16, 2023, Benzinga’s head of content, Javier Hasse, noted on X that the website had retracted a story by “an external unpaid contributor” because “the contributed content could not be verified & does not meet Benzinga’s editorial standards.”
Four days later, Benzinga issued a full retraction on its website, stating that no interview took place.
“The information included was fabricated by external sources and Benzinga confirmed no such interview took place. Benzinga has removed this story, revoked access for the contributor who authored the piece and is reevaluating its guidelines for contributed content in light of this incident.”
Berner took to his Instagram page to address the retraction, calling the article an “AI generated interview/ fake piece.”
“Will you guys pursue this [writer] and who ever approved this to be released to find out who paid for this slander/ defamation on my name & [company]?” he asked while tagging the business outlet.
“It’s unfortunate how unreliable media has become in 2023 , but even more disappointing how far competition will go to get you out the way,” Berner added.
Reporter Smith Ellis pointed to an alleged article about Daxsen and claimed that he is “more than a ‘correspondent’ for Benzinga,” but also “owns a bank (Daxsen Bank) that invests in the #cannabis industry.”
That article, also on Benzinga, appeared to have been removed by the outlet along with other articles about Berner.
However, different articles promoting Daxsen, whose real name is David Xavier Sánchez, remain on Benzinga’s site.
Daxsen did not immediately reply to requests for comment. This article will be updated with any relevant responses.
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