11th Circuit: OpenAI Appellant Deserves to Know Why District Court Denied Him Fees

The 11th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court granted appellant Mark Walters' motion to remand his case to the Northern District of Georgia for an explanation about why it denied him reimbursement of the costs and fees he incurred in challenging OpenAI’s removal of his defamation case to federal court (see 2312110008), said its opinion Monday (docket 23-13843). Walters has said he incurred “significantly increased costs” as a result of OpenAI’s questionable removal of his case to federal court. Walters, a nationally syndicated talk show host, alleges OpenAI’s ChatGPT service defamed him to a reporter (see 2307240031). Walters argued that the district court failed to provide an explanation or analysis for its denial of costs and fees, which left the 11th Circuit with no means of reviewing whether the district court abused its discretion.