The lawsuit alleges that T-Mobile’s new Easy Switch onboarding tool uses AI bots to access and scrape customer data from AT&T’s systems unlawfully
In sum – what to know:
Customer-first positioning – T-Mobile US defends Easy Switch as a transparent, permission-based onboarding tool designed to simplify switching, accusing AT&T of adding friction — and litigation — to limit customer choice.
Legal battle over AI scraping – AT&T claims the AI “scraping tool” unlawfully accesses secure customer data, seeking an injunction; T-Mobile counters that AT&T is blocking innovation rather than competing on service and experience.
T-Mobile US’ President of Marketing, Strategy, and Products, Mike Katz, took to LinkedIn to respond to AT&T’s lawsuit alleging that the former’s new Easy Switch onboarding tool uses AI bots to access and scrape customer data from AT&T’s systems unlawfully.
“At T-Mobile, we believe the best way to earn customer loyalty is … to actually earn it. Customers should stay because we earn their business — not because we make it hard to leave… Some companies operate differently,” he wrote. Instead, he said, these “companies” (ahem AT&T and Verizon, perhaps?) “pour their energy into creating friction — and sometimes even litigation — to make leaving harder.”
T-Mobile introduced Easy Switch at a press event in Las Vegas, promoting it as a way for new customers to join its network in as little as 15 minutes through the company’s T-Life app. The AI component — the one coming under scrutiny — analyzes a user’s existing AT&T or Verizon account and suggests optimized T-Mobile plans, highlighting potential savings and service advantages.
According to the lawsuit, AT&T is alleging that T-Mobile’s “scraping tool” enables the operator to obtain “customer data from secure, password-protected websites on AT&T’s computer systems without AT&T’s consent.” On November 30, AT&T filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in a U.S. District Court in Texas, seeking to halt what it calls unauthorized access to its systems.
A T-Mobile US spokesperson provided the following statement to RCR Wireless News: “T-Mobile launched the Easy Switch tool with the simple goal of making it easier for customers to navigate the complex switching process — with full transparency and with explicit customer permission… In spite of that, AT&T blocked the original version of Easy Switch and has made its own digital experience worse for all its customers just to make it harder for customers who are considering a switch to leave. And now it’s asking the court to help it limit customer choice, rather than earning customer loyalty the old-fashioned way, with a great offering and customer experience.”
As for Katz, he ended his post bluntly: “We’ll keep putting customers first… We. Won’t. Stop.”
