On June 16, 2026, BOTTINI & BOTTINI, INC. filed a shareholder derivative lawsuit on behalf of Adobe Inc. shareholders seeking to hold certain current and former officers and directors accountable for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty and related misconduct arising from Adobe’s artificial intelligence strategy and public representations concerning its AI products.
The case -- Hirschberger et al. v. Narayen et al., Case No. 5:26-cv-05882 -- is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
The complaint alleges that Adobe and certain of its senior executives repeatedly represented to investors and customers that its AI products, including Firefly, were trained exclusively on licensed and public-domain content and were therefore “commercially safe” for enterprise use. According to the complaint, Adobe’s AI-development efforts allegedly relied on datasets that incorporated unauthorized copyrighted materials, exposing the Company to significant legal, financial, and reputational risks.
The complaint further alleges that despite public assurances regarding responsible AI development and respect for creator rights, Adobe failed to implement adequate oversight and compliance controls to prevent the use of allegedly infringing training data. The lawsuit contends that these practices contributed to copyright infringement litigation against Adobe and caused substantial harm to the Company.
According to the complaint, Adobe repurchased approximately $26.89 billion of its own stock between March 2024 and February 2026 at allegedly inflated prices while the market was unaware of the full extent of the Company’s exposure to copyright-related claims and risks associated with its AI strategy.
The complaint also alleges that investor concerns intensified following the filing of multiple copyright infringement lawsuits against Adobe and the subsequent resignations of the Company’s CEO and CFO in 2026, events that contributed to significant declines in Adobe’s stock price.
Frank A. Bottini, Jr. of Bottini & Bottini, counsel for plaintiffs, stated: “Adobe repeatedly assured investors and customers that its AI products were developed responsibly and trained only on content for which the Company had the necessary rights. This action seeks to hold Adobe’s officers and directors accountable for the substantial harm allegedly caused by their failure to ensure that those representations were accurate and that appropriate compliance controls were in place.”
The complete complaint can be downloaded from the link below.
CONTACT:
BOTTINI & BOTTINI, INC.
Frank A. Bottini, Jr.
7817 Ivanhoe Ave., Suite 102
La Jolla, CA 92037
(858) 914-2001
fbottini@bottinilaw.com