What Is the Gmail Lawsuit?
The Gmail lawsuit is a putative federal class action against Google LLC over its Gemini AI assistant, not a certified class action or a multidistrict litigation. It is formally known as Thele v. Google LLC, filed November 11, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Plaintiff Thomas Thele, later joined by a second named plaintiff, Melo Porter, brought the case on behalf of a proposed nationwide class of Gmail, Chat, and Meet users. The complaint alleges Google secretly turned on its Gemini AI "Smart features" setting for all users of those three products on or about October 10, 2025, after previously requiring users to opt in, and that Gemini has since tracked private communications, including entire Gmail histories, without users' knowledge or consent.
Google LLC is the sole named defendant. A California federal judge dismissed the complaint in July 2026 for lacking sufficient factual detail about concrete harm, but gave the plaintiffs leave to file an amended complaint, so the case remains active rather than closed.
“However, on or about October 10, 2025, Google secretly turned on Gemini for all its users' Gmail, Chat, and Meet accounts, enabling AI to track its users' private communications contained in those platforms without the users' knowledge or consent.”
Source: Thomas Thele v. Google LLC, Case No. 5:25-cv-09704, Class Action Complaint P2 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 11, 2025)
Why Was the Gmail Lawsuit Filed?
People are filing the Gmail lawsuit because Google is alleged to have switched on Gemini AI tracking of private Gmail, Chat, and Meet communications by default, without the affirmative consent the company's own settings language had previously required. Before October 10, 2025, Google's account settings described Gemini's "Smart features" as something a user had to turn on, with an explicit description reading "When you turn this setting on, you agree to let Gmail, Chat, and Meet use my email, chat, and video content to personalize my experience."
The complaint alleges Google reversed that default on or about October 10, 2025, so that Gemini began accessing users' entire recorded communication history, including every email and attachment sent and received in Gmail, unless a user affirmatively found the setting and turned it off. Plaintiffs argue this means users never gave informed consent in the first place, since the feature they never enabled was switched on for them.
The lawsuit pleads five separate legal theories over this same alleged conduct: violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), the California Computer Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA), the federal Stored Communications Act, California's constitutional right to privacy, and common-law intrusion upon seclusion. Google has not publicly admitted wrongdoing, and the presiding court has not ruled on the merits of any of these claims.
What Harms Does the Gmail Lawsuit Allege?
The Gmail lawsuit alleges five distinct legal claims arising from the same underlying conduct, Google's default activation of Gemini AI tracking. Each is defined in plain language below, followed by what the complaint specifically alleges. No court has ruled on the merits of any of these claims, and Google has not been found liable.
Wiretapping Under the California Invasion of Privacy Act
A CIPA wiretapping claim alleges a defendant recorded or intercepted a confidential communication without the consent of everyone involved, a form of civil claim distinct from a criminal wiretapping charge.
The complaint alleges Google's Gemini AI reads and processes the contents of Gmail, Chat, and Meet communications as they are sent and received, without the consent of the people communicating, in violation of California Penal Code section 630 and related CIPA provisions.
Unauthorized Computer Access Under the CDAFA
The California Computer Data Access and Fraud Act creates a civil claim for accessing computer data without permission or in excess of authorized access.
The complaint alleges Google accessed and used the content of users' private communications through Gemini without authorization, since the setting enabling that access was switched on by Google rather than affirmatively chosen by each user.
Violation of the Stored Communications Act
The Stored Communications Act is a federal law that restricts unauthorized access to electronic communications held in storage by a service provider.
The complaint alleges Google's access to the stored contents of users' Gmail messages and attachments through Gemini, without consent, violates the federal Stored Communications Act's restrictions on a provider accessing communications it holds in storage.
Violation of California's Constitutional Right to Privacy
California's state constitution independently guarantees a right to privacy, which can support a civil claim separate from any statute.
The complaint alleges Google's default-on Gemini tracking violates the reasonable expectation of privacy the California Constitution protects, arguing that users who never opted in had no reason to expect their private messages would be analyzed by an AI system.
Intrusion Upon Seclusion
Intrusion upon seclusion is a common-law privacy claim for intentionally intruding on someone's private affairs in a way a reasonable person would find highly offensive.
The complaint alleges Google's alleged conduct, accessing the full recorded history of users' private communications by default and without consent, meets this standard, particularly given the complaint's additional allegation that the same tracking extends to the private communications of Class Members' minor children.
What Is the Current Status of the Gmail Lawsuit?
The current status of the Gmail lawsuit is dismissed with leave to amend, not closed and not settled. A federal judge granted Google's motion to dismiss the original complaint but gave the plaintiffs a window to refile with more specific factual allegations, so the case remains open.
Thele v. Google LLC
Plaintiffs Thomas Thele and Melo Porter, represented by the firm Ahdoot & Wolfson, sued Google LLC in the Northern District of California over Gemini's default-on data access. Google moved to dismiss, arguing the complaint failed to establish the plaintiffs had suffered a concrete, particularized injury, and U.S. District Judge Noel Wise agreed, dismissing the case in July 2026 while granting leave to amend.
| Court | U.S. District Court, Northern District of California |
| Case Number | 5:25-cv-09704 |
| Filed | November 11, 2025 |
| Plaintiffs | Thomas Thele and Melo Porter |
| Plaintiffs' Counsel | Ahdoot & Wolfson, PC |
| Outcome So Far | Motion to dismiss granted with leave to amend, July 2026 |
Judge Wise's ruling did not decide whether Google's conduct was lawful. It found the complaint itself lacked enough specific detail, such as when each plaintiff's account was created and whether Gemini was already active on it before October 10, 2025, to establish the federal standing required to proceed, and gave the plaintiffs 21 days from the ruling to file an amended complaint addressing those gaps.
Has the Gmail Lawsuit Settled?
No. The Gmail lawsuit has not settled and has not reached a certified class, so there is currently no payout, claim form, or settlement fund to file into.
A federal judge dismissed the original complaint in July 2026 rather than approving any settlement, and gave the plaintiffs leave to file an amended complaint. Search results referencing a specific dollar figure or an open Gmail claim form generally describe a different, unrelated Google matter, most often the separate Rodriguez v. Google LLC verdict described below, not this case.
Because no class has been certified and no settlement exists, there is nothing to sign up for yet in this specific case; any site currently soliciting sign-ups tied to a dollar figure for a "Gmail lawsuit" is very likely referring to the separate Rodriguez v. Google Web & App Activity case, not the Gemini AI case covered on this page.
Gmail Lawsuit Updates
Here is the current status of the Gmail lawsuit, updated with new filings and rulings as they're confirmed. The case remains in its early pretrial stage following a July 2026 dismissal with leave to amend.
Full Gmail Lawsuit Timeline
Judge Dismisses the Complaint but Allows Plaintiffs to Amend
U.S. District Judge Noel Wise granted Google's motion to dismiss the Thele complaint for lacking sufficient detail about concrete harm, giving the plaintiffs 21 days to file an amended complaint rather than ending the case outright.
Thomas Thele Files the Class Action Complaint
Plaintiff Thomas Thele filed suit against Google LLC in the Northern District of California, later joined by a second named plaintiff, Melo Porter, alleging Gemini AI tracked private Gmail, Chat, and Meet communications without consent.
Google Turns On Gemini Smart Features by Default
Google switched its Gemini "Smart features" setting to on by default for Gmail, Chat, and Meet accounts on or about October 10, 2025, the conduct the complaint centers on, after previously requiring users to opt in themselves.
What Did Google Allegedly Do to Gmail's Privacy Settings?
Google is alleged to have reversed Gemini's opt-in privacy setting to opt-out by default, without separately notifying affected Gmail, Chat, and Meet users. Google has not been found liable in this case, and the presiding court has not ruled on whether this conduct was unlawful.
Before October 10, 2025, Google's own account settings described Gemini's data use in opt-in terms: a toggle a user had to actively turn on, next to language stating "When you turn this setting on, you agree to let Gmail, Chat, and Meet use my email, chat, and video content to personalize my experience with smart features in these products." The complaint alleges Google then switched that same toggle on for existing users without a comparable opt-in step, requiring users to discover and manually disable it instead.
Is the Gmail Lawsuit the Same as the $425 Million Google Case?
No. "Gmail lawsuit" and "Google lawsuit" describe more than one legally distinct case in recent reporting, and conflating them misattributes facts from one case to another. Only the Thele v. Google Gemini privacy case described on this page is currently the subject of this article; a separate, larger case resulted in a $425 million jury verdict over a different Google product setting.
That separate case, Rodriguez v. Google LLC, was filed in July 2020 in federal court in California and alleges Google kept collecting user data through non-Google apps with embedded Google software even after users turned off their account's "Web & App Activity" tracking setting, not the Gemini AI setting at issue in the Thele case. A federal jury found Google liable on two counts in September 2025 and ordered it to pay $425 million to a certified class of roughly 98 million affected users; Google's post-trial motions to reduce or decertify that verdict were denied in January 2026, and Google has appealed, so no payout date has been set and no claims process is currently open in that case either. Because the two cases involve different Google account settings, different statutes, and different procedural postures, a claim form or settlement figure for one should never be assumed to apply to the other.
| Case | Google Setting at Issue | Statutes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thele v. Google LLC (this page) | Gemini AI "Smart features" in Gmail, Chat, Meet | CIPA, CDAFA, Stored Communications Act, CA constitutional privacy, intrusion upon seclusion | Dismissed with leave to amend, July 2026 |
| Rodriguez v. Google LLC (unrelated) | "Web & App Activity" tracking across non-Google apps | California privacy and consumer-protection claims | $425 million jury verdict, September 2025; on appeal, no payout date set |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Gmail lawsuit about?
The Gmail lawsuit, formally Thele v. Google LLC, alleges Google secretly turned on its Gemini AI assistant by default for Gmail, Chat, and Meet users on or about October 10, 2025, allowing Gemini to track private communications without users' knowledge or consent.
Is the Gmail lawsuit a class action?
It is a putative class action, meaning it was filed on behalf of a proposed class that has not yet been certified by a court. No class has been certified in this case as of this writing, and the original complaint was dismissed in July 2026 with leave to amend.
Has the Gmail lawsuit settled?
No. The Gmail lawsuit has not settled. A federal judge dismissed the original complaint in July 2026 rather than approving a settlement, and gave the plaintiffs 21 days to file an amended complaint, so the case remains open with no payout or claim form currently available.
Can I still file a claim in the Gmail lawsuit?
No claim form currently exists for this case, since no settlement has been reached and no class has been certified. Anyone directed to a claim form or a specific dollar figure for a "Gmail lawsuit" should confirm which case it actually references, since the separate Rodriguez v. Google Web & App Activity case has its own, different claims process that is also not yet open.
Is the Gmail lawsuit the same as the $425 million Google lawsuit?
No. The $425 million verdict came from Rodriguez v. Google LLC, a separate case over Google's "Web & App Activity" tracking setting, decided by a jury in September 2025. The Gmail lawsuit covered on this page, Thele v. Google LLC, is a different, more recent case about the Gemini AI assistant and remains in early pretrial stages.
Who is the defendant in the Gmail lawsuit?
Google LLC is the sole named defendant in Thele v. Google LLC. The complaint centers on Gemini, the AI assistant Google built into Gmail, Chat, and Meet, rather than a separate third-party company or product.