Neuroscientists sue Apple for using copyrighted books to train AI
Apple is facing a new lawsuit in the United States over claims that it used copyrighted material without permission to train Apple Intelligence, its artificial intelligence system, according to a recent report by Reuters.
Two neuroscientists, Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik, both professors at the SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, filed a proposed class action in a California federal court on October 9.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. According to the report, the pair allege that Apple used "shadow libraries" of pirated books to train its AI tools, including their own works "Champions of Illusion: The Science Behind Mind-Boggling Images and Mystifying Brain Puzzles" and "Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals About Our Everyday Deceptions".
The complaint claims Apple built Apple Intelligence on datasets that included thousands of illegally copied books and other materials scraped from across the internet. According to the filing, the company benefited enormously from the release of its AI suite, which it said added more than $200 billion to Apple's market value the day after Apple Intelligence was unveiled.
The case adds to a growing wave of legal action against major technology firms accused of misusing copyrighted work to train AI systems. Companies such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta are all facing similar lawsuits from authors, artists and media organisations. In August, AI startup Anthropic reportedly agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a lawsuit brought by a group of authors over the training of its chatbot Claude.
The neuroscientists are seeking unspecified monetary damages and a court order barring Apple from further using their copyrighted material in AI training, as per the Reuters report.
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