Anthropic will face a class-action lawsuit from US authors
VergeJUL 18
Judge Certifies Class Action Against Anthropic Over Pirated Books
Above: Dario Amodei, co-founder and CEO of Anthropic, participated in a panel session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 23, 2025. Image copyright: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
Anthropic adheres to values of fair use and transparency. Negative legal cases not only could inhibit Anthropic but also innovation in AI as a sector as a whole, which is vital to U.S. security.
Narrative B
The certification finally holds AI companies accountable for systematic copyright theft. Anthropic deliberately downloaded millions of pirated books and celebrated finding new sources of stolen content, treating authors' life's work as free training data. This landmark case ensures creators receive compensation for their intellectual property being used to build billion-dollar AI systems.