NEW DELHI: Spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, raising concern over the unauthorised use of his name and image by websites allegedly using artificial intelligence to promote products without his consent.
Appearing before Justice Saurabh Benarjee, Sadhguru’s legal team argued that his identity was being misused to falsely endorse items and mislead the public.
The petition calls for immediate takedown orders against such content and stricter regulation of digital platforms enabling these actions.
During the hearing, Sadhguru cited specific instances of how his reputation is being exploited by entities leveraging AI. “My name is being exploited to sell products—one such example is the book Garbh Yatra (on pregnancy), which features my image on its cover,” he said. “People are blindly trusting these offerings because of my reputation, making this a clear case of fraud.
These entities are leveraging AI to deceive the public.” His plea highlights a growing issue faced by public figures—unauthorised use of their persona, including AI-generated content, to endorse or promote services and products they have no connection with. Representatives for Google, one of the respondents, argued that the company could only act once specific URLs were reported.
The tech giant maintained that its role as an intermediary limits its liability unless precise links are brought to its notice. “Affected parties must report specific URLs to intermediaries before any action can be taken,” the counsel said. After a brief round of arguments, the Delhi High Court reserved its decision, stating that an interim order would be passed shortly
