Apple Sued Over AI Training Using Pirated Authors’ Books
Apple is facing a new class-action lawsuit after authors Grady Hendrix and Jennifer Roberson alleged that the iPhone maker used pirated copies of their books without consent to train its OpenELM AI models. Filed in Northern California, the lawsuit accuses Apple of copyright infringement, unjust enrichment, and failure to credit or pay writers whose works were included in a well-known dataset of unauthorized texts. This suit adds Apple to a growing list of tech giants—Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic—battling similar legal challenges over AI training data. Plaintiffs warn that reliance on unlicensed content undermines Apple’s privacy-first image and could expose it to substantial financial penalties. The case raises broader questions about how copyright law applies to AI development and may influence future licensing agreements and regulatory scrutiny across the tech sector.
Neutral
This lawsuit is focused on AI copyright issues within the tech sector and does not involve any cryptocurrency protocols or blockchain-based assets. Traders are unlikely to adjust positions in tokens based on legal disputes over AI training data at a consumer hardware company. Consequently, the news should have a neutral effect on market sentiment. Unlike prior cases where regulatory or legal actions targeted crypto-specific services, this lawsuit pertains to traditional copyright concerns. In both short and long term, the crypto market is expected to remain unaffected by Apple’s AI copyright litigation.