3M Expert Witness Relied on ChatGPT for 85% of Report, Jury Awards $61M Against Company
Justgototheeffinmoon · reddit · 2026-08-18
A Harris County jury awarded $61 million in a lawsuit against 3M over a deadly 2020 explosion, assigning the company 30% of the fault. Court records reveal that 3M's expert witness, Josh Autenrieth, generated 85% to 90% of his defense report using ChatGPT. Plaintiffs' attorneys discovered a "Citation Overlay" and obtained roughly 350 pages of prompts, including instructions to "show how 3M is 0% at fault." While the witness claimed AI was merely a drafting aid, the prosecution argued he relied exclusively on the chatbot to form opinions.
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