Decoder with Nilay Patel Confronting the CEO of the AI company that impersonated me
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Mar 23, 2026 
Shishir Mehrotra, Superhuman CEO and former YouTube leader, steps into a tense conversation about an AI writing feature that used journalists’ identities without permission. They dig into attribution versus impersonation. They spar over opt-out policies, lawsuits, creator pay, and why AI can feel deeply extractive. The talk also stretches to copyright, subscriptions, and the future of software.
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How Expert Review Shipped And Got Killed
- Nilay Patel pressed Shishir Mehrotra on why Grammarly launched Expert Review using real journalists' names without permission and then removed it after backlash.
- Mehrotra said a PM and a couple engineers shipped a low-usage feature meant to mimic admired experts, then killed it because it was bad for both users and experts.
Attribution Versus Impersonation Became The Core Fight
- Mehrotra drew a hard line between attribution and impersonation, arguing public work can be referenced with names and links but should not be used to impersonate someone.
- Nilay Patel kept forcing the economic question by asking how much payment is owed when a company uses a person's name, likeness, or authority inside a product.
Mehrotra Framed The Dispute Through YouTube
- Mehrotra compared this dispute to Viacom v. YouTube, saying legal compliance is only a floor and platforms should build creator-friendly systems beyond what the law requires.
- He pointed to YouTube's Content ID and open revenue share as examples of going further after winning a lawsuit that still threatened the platform's existence.