Archive · 23 Dec 2025
Reporter Sues AI Companies Over Book Training
A famous reporter and five other writers have sued several big tech companies, including Google and OpenAI, for using their books to train AI without permission.
The companies are accused of copying the books to teach their AI systems, which the writers say is illegal.
This is one of several lawsuits about AI companies using people's work without asking.
The writers are not joining a bigger group lawsuit because they think it's better to sue separately.
One of the companies, Anthropic, already settled a similar case by paying a lot of money to other authors.
The reporter involved thinks the settlement wasn't enough and that the companies should pay more for using the books without permission.
John Carreyrou and five other writers sued xAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Meta, and Perplexity for using copyrighted books without permission to train AI.
The lawsuit alleges that the companies pirated the writers' books to train large language models (LLMs) powering their chatbots.
The case is the first to name xAI as a defendant in such a lawsuit.
The writers are not seeking a class action lawsuit, preferring individual claims to avoid low settlements.
Anthropic previously settled a similar case by agreeing to pay $1.5 billion to a class of authors.
- Who
- John Carreyrou and five other writers
- What
- Suing AI companies for using copyrighted books without permission
- When
- Monday (specific date not mentioned)
- Where
- California federal court
- Why
- Alleging unauthorized use of copyrighted books for AI training
Writers
AI Companies
Class Action Lawsuits
Writers
Writers prefer individual claims to avoid low settlements.
AI Companies
AI companies may favor class actions for single settlement negotiations.
Settlement Amounts
Writers
Writers believe the $1.5 billion settlement was insufficient.
AI Companies
AI companies likely believe the settlement was fair.
- Plaintiffs
- John Carreyrou and five other writers
- Defendants
- xAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Meta Platforms, Perplexity
- Allegation
- Unauthorized use of copyrighted books for AI training
- Court
- California federal court
- Anthropic Settlement
- $1.5 billion to authors
- Law Firm
- Freedman Normand Friedland
- Key Attorney
- Kyle Roche
Sources
New York Times Reporter Sues Google, xAI, OpenAI Over Chatbot Training
New York Times reporter sues Meta, Anthropic, Google and other companies for AI training
NYT reporter and 'Bad Blood’ author sues xAI, OpenAI, Google and others over AI training data
