Anthropic Settles Copyright Dispute

Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude, has agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement in a copyright lawsuit brought by authors. The suit alleged that Anthropic used pirated books to train its large language models. The settlement resolves claims that the company violated copyrights by downloading millions of books without permission.

The agreement stipulates that Anthropic will pay approximately $3,000 per book, covering an estimated 500,000 works. The settlement money will be placed in a fund for distribution to eligible authors and publishers. Anthropic will also destroy downloaded copies of books acquired through pirate libraries.

This settlement marks a significant moment in the legal battles between AI companies and copyright holders. While Anthropic does not admit wrongdoing, the agreement avoids a trial and resolves the plaintiffs' remaining claims. The case highlights the complexities of using copyrighted material to train AI models and sets a precedent for future disputes.