Apple Sued For Allegedly Using Copyright Book To Train Apple Intelligence

Professor SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, New York, Susana Martinez-Conde, sues Apple (photo: x @Brain_Facts_org ·)

JAKARTA - Apple Inc. is again facing a lawsuit in California's federal court, United States, after two neuroscientists accused the company of illegally using thousands of copyrighted books to train its artificial intelligence model, Apple Intelligence.

Two professors from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, New York Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik filed a class action lawsuit on Thursday 9 October, claiming that Apple used a shadow library containing a copy of the pirated book to train its AI system.

According to court documents, Apple allegedly took advantage of a data collection containing thousands of pirated books as well as various other copyright-violating materials, which were taken from the internet without permission. Among the books that are said to have been used are the work of Martinez-Conde and Macknik entitled 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 Everydayals.

The lawsuit demands undetermined compensation and asks the court to order Apple to stop using their copyrighted work in AI training.

The case adds to a long list of lawsuits against major tech companies such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms, all accused of using copyrighted work without permission to train their artificial intelligence systems. Previously, last August, AI company Anthropic agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a similar lawsuit from a group of writers regarding their chatbot training, Claude.

Neither Apple nor the legal representatives of the plaintiffs have commented on the lawsuit.

Apple Intelligence itself is a series of AI-powered features integrated into iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad. The lawsuit also states that the day after Apple officially introduced Apple Intelligence, the company's market value increased by more than $200 billion the most lucrative day in the company's history.

This case is part of a global debate over the ethics and legality of copyrighted employment in artificial intelligence training, which is now the main focus of various parties, including the issuance and copyright law industry in the United States.