A group of authors, including John Carreyrou, the author of “Bad Blood” and a whistleblower in the Theranos scandal, has initiated a legal action against six prominent AI firms: Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Meta, xAI, and Perplexity. The lawsuit alleges that these companies have utilized pirated versions of their books—without consent—for the training of artificial intelligence models.
This legal challenge follows an earlier class-action lawsuit in which a judge ruled that while training AI on pirated material might be permissible, the act of piracy itself remains illegal. The recent lawsuit further criticizes the previous settlement reached with Anthropic, which allowed authors to claim up to $3,000 from a $1.5 billion fund. Many authors expressed dissatisfaction with this resolution, arguing that it fails to hold AI companies accountable for leveraging copyrighted materials that contribute to their substantial profits.
Key points raised in the new legal complaint include:
– The authors argue that the Anthropic settlement primarily benefits AI companies rather than creators.
– They contend that AI firms should not be able to extinguish numerous significant copyright claims at minimal costs, effectively undermining the true value of their infringements.
The plaintiffs hope that this case will bring attention to the broader implications of AI training practices, advocating for a more equitable approach that respects intellectual property rights.
