Meta accused of using pirated content from torrents to train its AI models: All the details

Meta

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly allowed his company to use pirated copies of copyrighted books from illegal torrents to train its artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The company is currently facing lawsuits for copyright infringement from various authors, who argue that Meta misused their books to train its large language model, Llama.

According to reports from Wired and Reuters, documents submitted in California federal court revealed that internal files of Meta used the AI training dataset LibGen, which allegedly contains millions of pirated works. Further, the papers argue that Zuckerberg approved the use of LibGen despite warnings from Meta’s AI executive team.

These revelations have come after Vince Chhabria, a judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, ordered both Meta and the plaintiffs on Wednesday to file full versions of a batch of documents. The judiciary also believes that these updated documents strengthen their claims of copyright infringement and justify adding new allegations, including a computer fraud claim.

This case is part of a larger wave of lawsuits faced by big tech companies, accusing them of using copyrighted works without permission to develop their AI systems. The outcome of this case could also have significant implications for how AI can be used in the future for use in creative works.