By Blake Brittain

June 12 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google GOOGL.O on Friday sued the makers of software that allegedly enables criminals to conduct "phishing" attacks using AI.

The complaint, filed in Manhattan federal court, said that the "Outsider" phishing kit illegally mimics hundreds of trusted websites -- and provides users with step-by-step instructions for utilizing AI tools including Google's Gemini to generate their own phishing sites -- to steal victims' personal and financial information.

Google said it detected more than 1.5 million URLs linked to Outsider between November and April. The lawsuit comes amid broader concerns about AI's potential to power cybersecurity breaches.

Google accused the makers of Outsider of engaging in a cybercrime ring, abusing Google Cloud and Google Drive and misusing the tech giant's trademarks to "lend a false veneer of legitimacy to its criminal schemes." It asked the court to block the software and requested an unspecified amount of monetary damages.

The complaint identified the defendants as a group of anonymous cybercriminals based in China. Reuters could not immediately identify the makers of Outsider or reach them for comment.

Google General Counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado said in a blog post that the company is working with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and telecom companies AT&T T.N, T-Mobile TMUS.O and Verizon VZ.N to dismantle Outsider's infrastructure. DeLaine Prado also said that Google is endorsing seven bills pending in Congress meant to counter scamming.

"By combining powerful security defenses with aggressive legal action, we’re fighting against scammers and working to build a safer internet for everyone," DeLaine Prado said.

"Criminals increasingly use AI to make fraud like this more convincing and harder to detect," said Brett Leatherman, assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division. "Together with partners like Google, we can disrupt criminal networks in ways no single organization could on its own.”

The case is Google v. Does 1-25, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:26-cv-04982.

For Google: Laura Harris and Benjamin Softness of King & Spalding

For the defendants: attorney information not yet available

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