Apple sued by authors over use of books in AI training

By Admin

06 Sep, 2025

Technology giant Apple is facing fresh legal trouble after a group of authors accused the company of illegally using their copyrighted books to train its artificial intelligence systems. The proposed class action, filed in the federal court in Northern California, alleges that Apple copied protected works without consent, credit, or compensation.

The Lawsuit Against Apple

The case was filed on Friday by authors Grady Hendrix and Jennifer Roberson, who claim their works were part of a pirated dataset Apple allegedly used to train its “OpenELM” large language models. According to the lawsuit, Apple has not attempted to pay or even acknowledge the authors for their contributions to what could become a highly lucrative venture.

“Apple has not attempted to pay these authors for their contributions to this potentially lucrative venture,” the filing stated. Neither Apple nor the plaintiffs’ lawyers immediately responded to requests for comment.

Growing Legal Battles in the AI Era

This lawsuit is the latest in a rising wave of cases targeting tech giants over the use of copyrighted materials in AI training. Authors, publishers, and news outlets have increasingly turned to the courts to defend their intellectual property against what they describe as unauthorized exploitation.

Just last week, artificial intelligence startup Anthropic disclosed it had agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class action lawsuit from authors. They had accused the company of using their books to train its chatbot, Claude, without permission. While Anthropic did not admit liability, the settlement was hailed as the largest publicly reported copyright recovery in history.

Other Tech Giants Under Fire

Apple is not alone in facing these challenges. In June, Microsoft was sued by a group of authors who claimed their works were used without consent to train the company’s Megatron AI model. Meta Platforms and OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, have also been hit with lawsuits over similar allegations of copyright misuse in AI training.

What This Means for AI and Copyright

The lawsuit against Apple highlights a broader tension between rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and the legal protections surrounding intellectual property. As AI systems increasingly rely on vast datasets, including books, articles, and online content, questions about ownership, compensation, and ethical use have become central to the debate.

For now, the Apple lawsuit underscores how the legal and ethical framework around AI is still being shaped   and how creators are fighting to ensure their work is not exploited without consent.