Anthropic AI company to doled out $1.5 billion to writers

In a landmark case, AI firm Anthropic has agreed to pay at least $1.5 billion in damages to authors, following a lawsuit alleging unauthorized downloads of around half a million books and other texts. The San Francisco case, one of many lawsuits against the AI industry from copyright holders, involves the use of these downloaded works to train the AI chatbot Claude.

The lawsuit, which has been ongoing, contends that Anthropic knowingly downloaded the works illegally, a fact that could potentially result in penalties of up to $150,000 per book in a trial. However, the judge in the San Francisco case ruled that Anthropic's use of copyrighted texts could potentially be covered by the "fair use" principle, but this did not apply to the downloading of the two pirate libraries.

Anthropic, aiming to avoid a trial and the significant financial implications, has agreed to the settlement. The plaintiff authors have accepted the proposal, and the judge in San Francisco needs to approve the settlement for it to become effective. If approved, Anthropic will pay approximately $3,000 (around 2,500 Euro) per affected work.

Claude, one of the most successful competitors to OpenAI's popular chatbot, ChatGPT, is at the centre of the controversy. AI programs, including Claude, are fed vast amounts of information to provide meaningful responses to user queries. The downloaded works were used to train the AI chatbot Claude, raising concerns about the ethical and legal implications of using unauthorized material.

Despite the ongoing legal battles, the AI industry continues to grow and evolve. The San Francisco case serves as a reminder for companies to prioritize respect for intellectual property rights and to operate within the boundaries of the law.

It's important to note that there is no credible public information identifying who specifically used the two pirated libraries from which the AI company Anthropic allegedly downloaded files. This aspect of the case remains unresolved.

As the use of AI continues to expand, so too will the need for clear guidelines and regulations to ensure that the rights of creators are protected and respected. The San Francisco case is a significant step in this direction.