On Monday, investigative journalist John Carreyrou initiated legal action against major tech firms including xAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Meta, and Perplexity, alleging unauthorized use of copyrighted materials in training their AI models. Joined by five fellow writers, Carreyrou asserts that these companies have encroached on their intellectual property rights.
This lawsuit is part of a broader trend, as various content creators, including major film studios and news organizations, have increasingly turned to legal avenues against AI companies this year. The complaints have led to some settlements, such as a licensing agreement between Disney and OpenAI.
Interestingly, the lawsuit is filed by individual authors rather than as a class action, which the plaintiffs claim is a deliberate choice to ensure their claims are adequately addressed. The complaint emphasizes that large language model companies should not be allowed to easily dismiss significant claims.
In the context of prior legal disputes, Anthropic recently settled a class-action lawsuit with authors for $1.5 billion. The current complaint highlights that participants in that case will only receive a minuscule portion of the potential damages, raising concerns about the adequacy of compensation for creators.