Apple it is being sued in California federal court by a pair of neuroscientists who claim the tech company misused thousands of copyrighted books to train its employees. Apple Intelligence artificial intelligence model.
Susana Martinez-Conde and Steven Macknick, professors at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, New York, told the court in a proposed class action Thursday that Apple used illegal “dark libraries” of pirated books to train Apple Intelligence.
Last month, a separate group of authors sued Apple for allegedly misusing their work on artificial intelligence training.
TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES FACING LAWSUITS
The lawsuit is one of many high-stakes cases brought by copyright owners such as authors, news outlets and music labels against technology companies, including OpenAIMicrosoft and Meta Platforms for unauthorized use of their work in AI training. Anthropic agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a lawsuit by another group of creators over the training of its AI-powered chatbot Claude in August.
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Representatives for Apple and Martinez-Conde, Macknick and their lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new complaint Friday.
Apple Intelligence is a set of artificial intelligence-powered features integrated into iOS devices, including iPhone and iPad.
“The day after Apple officially unveiled Apple Intelligence, the company was valued at more than $200 billion, “the most profitable day in the company’s history,” the lawsuit says.
According to the complaint, Apple used datasets containing thousands of pirated books and other copyright-infringing materials obtained from the Internet to train its artificial intelligence system.
The lawsuit said the pirated books included Martinez-Conde and Macknick's “Champions of Illusion: The Science Behind Stunning Images and Mysterious Brain Puzzles” and “Agility: What Neuroscience and Magic Reveal About Our Everyday Deceptions.”
The professors sought an unspecified amount of monetary damages and an order for Apple to stop misusing their copyrighted works.
