Apple Joins Meta, Microsoft In AI Copyright Controversy: Is iPhone-Maker Training AI With Authors' Books?

Apple has landed in legal trouble, this time over how it may be training its artificial intelligence systems. Two authors, Grady Hendrix and Jennifer Roberson, have filed a lawsuit against the tech giant in a federal court in Northern California. Their allegation? That Apple used their copyrighted books to train its AI models without consent, credit, or any form of compensation, Reuters reported.

The proposed class action lawsuit adds to a growing list of legal complaints from writers, publishers, and media outlets who argue that major tech firms are misusing intellectual property to build AI systems.

What the lawsuit says

According to the complaint, Apple is accused of copying protected works to train its “OpenELM” language models. The authors say their books were part of a dataset that allegedly includes pirated titles used in AI development. “Apple has not attempted to pay these authors for their contributions to this potentially lucrative venture,” the lawsuit states. Neither Apple nor the attorneys representing the authors have responded publicly yet.

It must be noted that Apple isn’t alone in facing these types of claims. Just a few months ago, Microsoft was sued for similar reasons as authors accused the company of using their books to train its Megatron AI model. Meta and OpenAI have also been named in lawsuits alleging misuse of copyrighted materials.

In another major development, AI startup Anthropic recently agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement with a group of authors who claimed the company used their books without permission to train its Claude chatbot. While Anthropic didn’t admit to any wrongdoing, the settlement is being described as one of the largest copyright deals to date.

As AI models become more advanced and widespread, the way they are trained is facing increasing scrutiny. Authors and other content creators are pushing back against what they see as unfair use of their work, especially when it’s used in profitable ventures without any benefit to them.