Anthropic Proposes $1.5 Billion Settlement in Copyright Dispute with Authors
SAN FRANCISCO – AI company Anthropic has offered a $1.5 billion settlement to authors alleging copyright infringement in the training of its Claude chatbot, according to court filings.The proposed deal aims to avert a trial where the startup faced potential penalties significantly exceeding the settlement amount.A San Francisco judge must still approve the agreement.
The lawsuit is one of several filed by copyright holders against AI companies over the use of copyrighted material to train large language models. These models require massive datasets to function,raising questions about fair use and intellectual property rights. Anthropic argued its use of copyrighted texts fell under “fair use” as the AI generates new content, but the judge previously ruled this exemption did not apply to the use of illegally downloaded material.
The case centers on Anthropic’s use of two piracy libraries during Claude’s development. The judge persistent Anthropic was aware these databases contained illegally obtained works,possibly exposing the company to fines of up to $150,000 per book. This financial risk prompted Anthropic to seek a settlement.
Claude is a leading competitor to OpenAI’s chatgpt, and the outcome of this case-and others like it-will likely set a precedent for the AI industry regarding copyright and the use of training data. The authors involved have accepted the proposal, pending judicial approval.
