Anthropic Reaches Landmark $1.5 Billion Settlement in AI Copyright Lawsuit
Anthropic Reaches Landmark $1.5 Billion Settlement in AI Copyright Lawsuit
Artificial intelligence powerhouse Anthropic has agreed to a monumental $1.5 billion settlement in a class-action lawsuit, addressing claims that it used pirated books to train its AI chatbot, Claude. This groundbreaking agreement, which awaits approval from a federal judge as early as Monday, represents a significant turning point in the escalating legal conflicts between AI companies and creative professionals over copyright infringement.
The settlement stipulates that Anthropic will compensate authors or publishers approximately $3,000 for each of an estimated 500,000 books covered by the agreement. Legal representatives for the authors have lauded the deal as potentially the largest copyright recovery in history and an unprecedented event in the AI era. The lawsuit was initially filed last year by thriller novelist Andrea Bartz and nonfiction writers Charles Graeber and Kirk Wallace Johnson, who now represent a wider collective of writers and publishers.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup is slated to review the settlement terms this coming Monday. Anthropic issued a statement on Friday, indicating that the approved settlement would resolve all remaining legacy claims from the plaintiffs, while reiterating its dedication to developing secure AI systems. A key component of the agreement also mandates Anthropic to destroy the original pirated book files it had downloaded. This development is expected to set a critical precedent, potentially influencing other high-profile disputes involving major AI players like OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta, and Midjourney.
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