U.S. entrepreneurial venture Anthropic shells out $1.5 billion dollars in funding

U.S. innovator Anthropic shells out $1.5 billion for intellectual property and copyright rights - Artificial Intelligence and Copyright Infringement: American company Anthropic spends $1.5 billion

In a landmark decision, AI company Anthropic has agreed to pay a record-breaking settlement of $1.5 billion to resolve a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by the Authors Guild. The settlement, which is the first of its kind in the age of Artificial Intelligence, covers approximately 500,000 books that were used without permission to train Anthropic's AI chatbot, Claude.

The settlement, which is yet to be approved by a court, requires Anthropic to destroy all infringing documents and copies. However, the AI startup retains rights for legally acquired and scanned books after the settlement. Each affected work will be compensated with about $3,000, four times the statutory minimum damages under US copyright law.

Anthropic, based in San Francisco, is one of the leading developers of generative AI applications, alongside OpenAI. The company recently announced a $13 billion funding round, valuing the AI startup at $183 billion.

The settlement comes as generative AI applications face increasing legal pressure due to their training practices. Mary Rasenberger, the head of the Authors Guild, stated that the settlement sends a strong message to the AI industry about the consequences of pirating authors' works.

If the settlement is not approved, a trial that was set to begin in early December could result in significantly higher damage payments. The Authors Guild believes that the settlement sets a precedent for future copyright infringement cases involving AI companies.

The settlement between Anthropic and the Authors Guild involves a class action lawsuit, and it is expected to set a new standard for how AI companies approach the use of copyrighted materials in their training processes. This historic settlement underscores the importance of respecting authors' rights in the rapidly evolving field of AI.