Home / Business and Economy / Authors Win Landmark $1.5B Settlement Over AI Training
Authors Win Landmark $1.5B Settlement Over AI Training
21 Jul
Summary
- AI firm Anthropic settled a lawsuit for $1.5 billion.
- Authors sued Anthropic for using books to train AI.
- This is the largest U.S. copyright case settlement.
A federal judge in San Francisco has approved Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement, resolving a class action lawsuit brought by authors. The authors alleged that their books were misused to train Anthropic's AI chatbot, Claude. This settlement marks the largest known resolution for a U.S. copyright infringement case.
The lawsuit, filed in 2024, accused Anthropic, which is backed by major tech companies, of using pirated book versions to develop Claude's capabilities. While a previous ruling suggested fair use for AI training, concerns arose over Anthropic saving over 7 million pirated books to a library.
A trial was scheduled to determine potential damages, which could have reached hundreds of billions of dollars. A significant majority of works included in the settlement had claims filed by their copyright holders. However, some authors objected, arguing the settlement was insufficient or unfairly distributed.
