Latest news with #Megatron
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Authors hit Microsoft with piracy lawsuit
Microsoft has been hit with a lawsuit by a group of authors who claim the company used their books without permission to train its Megatron artificial intelligence model, reported Reuters. Kai Bird, Jia Tolentino, Daniel Okrent and several others alleged that Microsoft used pirated digital versions of their books to teach its AI to respond to human prompts. Their lawsuit, filed in New York federal court on Tuesday, is one of several high-stakes cases brought by authors, news outlets and other copyright holders against tech companies including Meta Platforms, Anthropic and Microsoft-backed OpenAI over alleged misuse of their material in AI training. The complaint against Microsoft came a day after a California federal judge ruled that Anthropic made fair use under US copyright law of authors' material to train its AI systems but may still be liable for pirating their books. It was the first US decision on the legality of using copyrighted materials without permission for generative AI training. Spokespeople for Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. An attorney for the authors declined to comment. The writers alleged in the complaint that Microsoft used a collection of nearly 200,000 pirated books to train Megatron, an algorithm that gives text responses to user prompts. The complaint said Microsoft used the pirated dataset to create a "computer model that is not only built on the work of thousands of creators and authors, but also built to generate a wide range of expression that mimics the syntax, voice, and themes of the copyrighted works on which it was trained." Tech companies have argued that they make fair use of copyrighted material to create new, transformative content, and that being forced to pay copyright holders for their work could hamstring the burgeoning AI industry. The authors requested a court order blocking Microsoft's infringement and statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each work that Microsoft allegedly misused.
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Sector Spotlight: Instagram, TikTok coming to a TV screen near you
Welcome to the latest edition of 'Sector Spotlight,' where The Fly looks at a new industry every week and highlights its happenings. Confident Investing Starts Here: TECH SECTOR NEWS: Germany's data protection commissioner, Meike Kamp, has asked Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOGL) to remove Chinese AI startup DeepSeek from their app stores in the country due to concerns about data protection, Reuters reported. The two U.S. companies must now review the request promptly and decide whether to block the app in Germany, she said in a statement on Friday, according to the report. According to EU's competitive chief Teresa Ribera, the European Union's crackdown on Apple, Meta (META), and Google (GOOGL) is not a bargaining chip in negotiations with the U.S. President Donald Trump, Samuel Stolton and Oliver Crook of Bloomberg wrote. In an interview, Ribera rejected suggestions that the enforcement of the Digital Markets Act, DMA, may be sacrificed to dodge punitive EU tariffs pitched by the White House. 'Of course not,' Ribera said on Bloomberg TV. 'We do not challenge the United States on how they implement their rules or how they adopt regulations. We deserve respect in the same way.' Meta's Instagram and TikTok are working on versions of their apps customized to run on TV screens, following YouTube's success in attracting a TV audience, The Information's Kaya Yurieff and Kalley Huang reported. A group of authors have filed a lawsuit against Microsoft in a New York federal court, claiming the company used nearly 200,000 pirated books without permission to train its Megatron AI model, Reuters' Blake Brittain wrote. Kai Bird, Jia Tolentino, Daniel Okrent and several others alleged that Microsoft used pirated digital versions of their books to teach its AI to respond to human prompts. The complaint against Microsoft came a day after a California federal judge ruled that Anthropic made fair use under U.S. copyright law of authors' material to train its AI systems but may still be liable for pirating their books. Earlier in the week, a federal judge has found Anthropic's use of books to train its AI models was legal in some circumstances, but not others, Meg Tanaka of The Wall Street Journal reported. Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California ruled Anthropic's use of copyrighted books for AI model training was legal under U.S. copyright law if it had purchased those books. The ruling does not apply to the more than 7M books the company obtained through 'pirated' means. Anthropic is backed by Amazon (AMZN) and Google. Vasi Philomin, Amazon Web Services' VP overseeing generative AI development, told Reuters in an email that he has left the e-commerce giant for another company, without providing details. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has hired three AI researchers from Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI to help with his superintelligence efforts, the Wall Street Journal's Meghan Bobrowsky wrote. The social media giant poached Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov and Xiaohua Zhai from OpenAI's Zurich office. The three staff established the Zurich office late last year. OpenAI and Microsoft are in contract negotiations that hinge on when OpenAI's systems will reach artificial general intelligence, The Wall Street Journal's Berber Jin reported. The contract stipulates that OpenAI can limit Microsoft's access to its tech when its systems reach AGI, which Microsoft is fighting. Microsoft hopes to remove the AGI clause or secure exclusive access to OpenAI's IP even after AGI is declared, according to the report. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had a 'super nice' call with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Monday and discussed their future working partnership, Altman said this week in a New York Times podcast. 'Obviously in any deep partnership, there are points of tension and we certainly have those,' Altman said. 'But on the whole, it's been like really wonderfully good for both companies.' Cloud computing currently generates large profits for Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Google (GOOGL), but this now faces a threat with the rise of AI cloud specialists and Nvidia, a new industry power broker, Asa Fitch of The Wall Street Journal wrote. Nvidia launched its own cloud-computing services two years ago and has nurtured upstarts competing with big cloud companies, investing in CoreWeave (CRWV) and Lambda. Amazon plans to invest GBP 40B in the UK over the next three years. Amazon said via LinkedIn: 'This investment builds on Amazon's 27-year history in the UK, where we've grown to employ over 75,000 people across over 100 sites, reaching every region of the country. This historic investment will create thousands of full-time jobs, including 2,000 jobs at the previously announced state-of-the-art fulfillment center in Hull, 2,000 jobs at another in Northampton, and additional positions at new sites in the East Midlands and at delivery stations across the country.' OpenAI has quietly designed a rival to compete with Microsoft Office and Google Workspace, with features that allow people to collaborate on documents and communicate via chat in ChatGPT, The Information's Amir Efrati and Natasha Mascarenhas reported, citing two people who have seen the designs. Launching these features would allow OpenAI to compete more directly against Microsoft, its biggest investor and business partner, the report notes. Starting June 24, a limited number of Waymo autonomous vehicles will gradually become available on the Uber (UBER) app for riders in select areas of Atlanta, Georgia, the company announced in a blog post. The Competition and Markets Authority is proposing to designate Google with 'strategic market status' in general search and search advertising. The CMA will consult on the proposal ahead of a final decision in October. If designated, the CMA would be able to introduce targeted measures to address specific aspects of how Google operates search services in the UK. The CMA has also published a roadmap of potential actions it could prioritize were Google to be designated. Early priorities include: requiring choice screens for users to access different search providers; ensuring fair ranking principles for businesses appearing on Google search; more transparency and control for publishers whose content appears in search results; and portability of consumer search data to support innovation in new products and services. Google search accounts for more than 90% of all general search queries in the UK, the CMA said. CMA CEO Sarah Cardell said: 'These targeted and proportionate actions would give UK businesses and consumers more choice and control over how they interact with Google's search services – as well as unlocking greater opportunities for innovation across the UK tech sector and broader economy.' The CMA welcomes views on its proposed designation decision and accompanying roadmap. A final decision on SMS designation will be made by the deadline of October 13. Apple is in last-minute talks with EU regulators over making changes to its App Store to avoid a series of escalating EU fines due to come into effect this week, The Financial Times' Barbara Moens wrote. People involved in the negotiations say Apple is expected to offer concessions on its 'steering' provisions that stop users accessing offers outside the App Store. Regulators had ordered the company to revise its rules within two months of its initial EUR 500M fine, and people with knowledge of the talks say Apple is expected to announce some concessions that buy the company more time, as the commission would first assess those changes before making a final decision. Discussions have also involved Apple's 'Core Technology Fee,' which requires developers to pay for each annual install after 1M downloads.
The Verge
3 days ago
- The Verge
Authors throw the book at Microsoft AI.
Authors throw the book at Microsoft AI. Several writers have launched a lawsuit against Microsoft over claims it used a collection of nearly 200,000 pirated books to train its Megatron artificial intelligence model to respond to user prompts. Judges have shot down similar cases that authors raised against Meta and Anthropic this week — perhaps the third time's the charm?
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Microsoft sued by authors over use of books in AI training
Microsoft has been hit with a lawsuit by a group of authors who claim the company used their books without permission to train its Megatron artificial intelligence model. Kai Bird, Jia Tolentino, Daniel Okrent and several others alleged that Microsoft used pirated digital versions of their books to teach its AI to respond to human prompts. Their lawsuit, filed in New York federal court on Tuesday, is one of several high-stakes cases brought by authors, news outlets and other copyright holders against tech companies including Meta Platforms, Anthropic and Microsoft-backed OpenAI over alleged misuse of their material in AI training. The complaint against Microsoft came a day after a California federal judge ruled that Anthropic made fair use under U.S. copyright law of authors' material to train its AI systems but may still be liable for pirating their books. It was the first U.S. decision on the legality of using copyrighted materials without permission for generative AI training. Spokespeople for Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. An attorney for the authors declined to comment. The writers alleged in the complaint that Microsoft used a collection of nearly 200,000 pirated books to train Megatron, an algorithm that gives text responses to user prompts. The complaint said Microsoft used the pirated dataset to create a "computer model that is not only built on the work of thousands of creators and authors, but also built to generate a wide range of expression that mimics the syntax, voice, and themes of the copyrighted works on which it was trained." Tech companies have argued that they make fair use of copyrighted material to create new, transformative content, and that being forced to pay copyright holders for their work could hamstring the burgeoning AI industry. The authors requested a court order blocking Microsoft's infringement and statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each work that Microsoft allegedly misused.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Microsoft sued by authors for allegedly using pirated books to train AI model
A group of prominent authors, including Pulitzer Prize winner Kai Bird and New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino, has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, accusing the tech giant of illegally using pirated versions of their books to train its AI model known as 'Megatron. ' Filed in a New York federal court on June 25, the suit claims that Microsoft copied nearly 200,000 copyrighted works without permission to develop AI systems that mimic the authors' unique writing styles, themes, and voices. This marks another major legal challenge in the growing debate over AI training and copyright law. Authors accuse Microsoft of copyright infringement The plaintiffs allege that Microsoft used a massive dataset of pirated digital books to train Megatron, a generative AI model designed to produce human-like text. According to the complaint, the AI's ability to replicate the tone, syntax, and narrative patterns of copyrighted works demonstrates a clear violation of intellectual property rights. The authors argue that their creative output was exploited to build a product that competes with them in the marketplace, without their consent or compensation. Lawsuit demands damages and a court injunction The writers are seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work, along with a court order to block Microsoft from continuing its alleged unauthorised use of their materials. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Buy Brass Idols - Handmade Brass Statues for Home & Gifting Luxeartisanship Buy Now Undo While the exact number of infringed titles remains unclear, the plaintiffs claim that thousands of authors' works may have been used without licence or attribution. The case could set a precedent for how courts handle AI training involving copyrighted content. Legal backdrop: A turning point in AI copyright battles This lawsuit comes just one day after a California judge ruled that AI firm Anthropic may have made 'fair use' of copyrighted material in training but could still be liable for using pirated versions of books. It was the first US decision to address the legality of using copyrighted texts in generative AI development. The Microsoft case adds further momentum to a wave of lawsuits from writers, artists, and media outlets challenging how their work is used by tech companies. Microsoft yet to respond publicly According to Reuters, Microsoft has not issued an official response to the allegations. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment when contacted by reporters. Meanwhile, legal observers say this case will be closely watched for its implications on the future of AI development and intellectual property rights. A growing challenge for the AI industry Tech firms including Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic have all faced similar legal scrutiny in recent time. The central argument from the companies is that using public data for AI training qualifies as 'fair use' under US copyright law. However, rights holders argue that this approach undermines creators' control and devalues their work. As AI models become increasingly sophisticated, courts should define clearer boundaries around what constitutes ethical and legal data usage.
