Authors Sue AI Companies Over Copyright Violations

Investigative reporter John Carreyrou and other authors have filed a lawsuit against AI companies including Elon Musk's xAI for using copyrighted books without permission to train their AI systems. The lawsuit challenges the use of copyrighted works in AI and aims to address similar ongoing legal disputes.

In a significant legal challenge to the AI industry, New York Times reporter John Carreyrou, known for his work on Theranos, has filed a lawsuit against several major AI companies. These include Elon Musk's xAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Meta Platforms, and Perplexity. The lawsuit accuses these companies of using copyrighted books without authorization to train their AI systems.

Carreyrou, joined by five other writers, submitted the filing in a California federal court. Unlike many other copyright actions, this suit does not seek to form a class action, which the plaintiffs argue benefits defendants by consolidating settlements. The case is noteworthy as xAI is named as a defendant for the first time.

Anthropic previously settled a similar case for $1.5 billion. However, Carreyrou stated this settlement was insufficient, alleging it awarded plaintiffs just a fraction of the statutory maximum per infringement under the Copyright Act. Legal experts view this case as influential in shaping future judicial perspectives on AI and intellectual property rights.

(With inputs from agencies.)