Class-Action Lawsuit Blames AI for Causing Gas Price Inflation in California

Car and Driver, 6/24/2026

Gas station operators in California are being accused of colluding to keep fuel prices artificially high.

The AI software's maker, Kalibrate, is named as a defendant along with station operators that use its tech.

The plaintiffs cite research showing that the use of these types of tools by many stations in an area can result in a 4.5 percent increase in fuel prices.

Kalibrate's software has a "restoration" feature that allows station operators to initiate or join a coordinated price hike, allowing them to effectively reset prices

What exactly is being alleged? What theory of harm is being advanced?

Gas station operators in California are being accused of colluding to keep fuel prices artificially high.

The defense will argue there was no "agreement." Evaluate this philosophically: does the absence of a human meeting mean there was no coordination, or no wrongful coordination?

If I build a deadly trap out in the woods and the trap happens to kill someone, I'm still guilty of manslaughter even if I wasn't there.

What would need to change in the law, regulation, or in corporate practices to close the accountability gap the case reveals?

I would use a legal framework similar to that which distinguishes murder from manslaughter.