Authors win class action approval against Anthropic over AI training data
A California federal judge has ruled that three authors can bring a class action suit against Anthropic on behalf of all US writers, alleging the AI was trained on work downloaded from what it terms as pirate libraries.
US District Judge William Alsup found Anthropic may have illegally downloaded 7 million books from LibGen and PiLiMi in 2021-2022. Despite fair use protections for training the AI, Anthropic is accused of violating copyright by storing pirated copies beyond training purposes in a “central library of all the books in the world.”
An Anthropic spokesperson said the company was “considering options to challenge the ruling” and claimed the court failed to account for the difficulty of establishing copyright ownership “millions of times over in a single lawsuit.”
The case against the Amazon and Alphabet-backed startup joins escalating legal battles facing AI companies, including OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta, over training data practices.
Meta refuses to sign EU AI code, citing regulatory overreach
Meta has refused to sign the EU’s new voluntary AI code of practice, with global affairs chief Joel Kaplan arguing the guidelines will harm innovation and create legal uncertainty.
Writing on LinkedIn, Kaplan said the code “introduces a number of legal uncertainties for model developers, as well as measures which go far beyond the scope of the AI Act.”
The voluntary framework is taking effect next month. Meta joins ASML Holding and Airbus in pushing for a two-year implementation delay, while OpenAI committed to signing last week.
“We share concerns raised by these businesses that this over-reach will throttle the development and deployment of frontier AI models in Europe, and stunt European companies looking to build businesses on top of them,” Kaplan stated.”
Meta’s refusal signals a calculated bet that regulatory fragmentation will favor larger players who can afford compliance complexity over European AI startups dependent on accessible development frameworks.
Post Office says ongoing Horizon IT inquiry may endanger replacement project
The UK Post Office has warned that the ongoing Horizon IT scandal inquiry could force costly modifications to its £410 million system replacement project.
The Post Office ditched plans to build its own system, opting instead to buy ready-made software from external suppliers seeking two contractors worth £269 million and £141 million respectively.
Procurement documents warn that inquiry findings “cannot be addressed in the contracts as awarded” and may require later modifications.
The original Horizon scandal led to hundreds of wrongful prosecutions between 1999 and 2015, with subpostmasters convicted when system errors were actually to blame.
The case demonstrates how legacy IT failures create cascading procurement risks, forcing organizations to build expensive uncertainty clauses into major technology contracts.
Meta settles $8bn shareholder lawsuit over Cambridge Analytica privacy failures
Meta executives have settled a multibillion-dollar shareholder lawsuit over privacy violations just before the trial testimony resumed, with financial terms undisclosed.
Claimants in the Delaware court case, filed in 2018, allege Zuckerberg’s decisions enabled Cambridge Analytica to access millions of Facebook users’ data for Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Shareholders wanted 11 directors to reimburse Meta for regulatory fines and legal costs. High-profile board members included Peter Thiel, Reed Hastings, and Jeffrey Zients.
Zients testified on Wednesday that Meta’s $5 billion FTC fine was substantial but denied it shielded Zuckerberg from personal liability.
The settlement eliminates discovery risks that could have exposed internal deliberations, protecting Meta’s governance reputation as it faces intensifying regulatory scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions.
OpenAI signs UK partnership to explore infrastructure investment
Britain and OpenAI have signed a strategic partnership to deepen AI security research collaboration and explore investing in UK data centers and infrastructure.
The government plans to invest £1 billion in AI computing infrastructure, aiming to increase public compute capacity 20-fold over five years.
OpenAI may expand its London office and deploy AI across justice, defense, security, and education sectors. CEO Sam Altman praised the UK’s “AI Opportunities Action Plan.”
Technology secretary Peter Kyle said, “AI will be fundamental in driving change across the country, whether that’s in fixing the NHS, breaking down barriers to opportunity or driving economic growth.”
The Labour government projects AI could boost productivity by 1.5% annually, worth £47 billion over a decade, as it seeks growth momentum amid declining poll numbers.
