Novelists sue Salesforce for using copyrighted books to train AI models

Two authors have filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Salesforce, alleging the cloud computing giant used thousands of copyrighted books without permission to train its xGen AI models. The lawsuit highlights growing legal pressure on tech companies over AI training practices, with dozens of similar cases targeting major firms like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta.

What you should know: Novelists Molly Tanzer and Jennifer Gilmore claim Salesforce infringed their copyrights by using pirated books to train xGen AI models for language processing.
• The complaint was filed on Wednesday, with Salesforce declining to comment on the lawsuit Thursday.
• Attorney Joseph Saveri, representing the authors, emphasized that “companies that use copyrighted material for … AI products” should be transparent and fairly compensate creators.

The big picture: This lawsuit adds to a wave of copyright litigation against AI companies over training data practices.
• Authors, news outlets, and content creators have filed dozens of lawsuits against tech giants for allegedly misusing copyrighted material in AI development.
• Anthropic, an AI company, recently agreed to a landmark $1.5 billion settlement with authors over similar copyright infringement claims in August.

The irony factor: The lawsuit points to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff’s own previous criticism of AI companies using “stolen” training data.
• Benioff has publicly stated that paying content creators for their work would be “very easy to do.”
• The complaint notes: “Benioff is right — technology companies like Benioff’s own Salesforce that use the intellectual property of copyright holders like Plaintiffs and Class members should fairly compensate them.”

What they’re saying: Legal representatives stress the importance of transparency and fair compensation in AI development.
• “It’s important that companies that use copyrighted material for … AI products are transparent,” Saveri said Thursday.
• “It’s also only fair that our clients are fairly compensated when this happens.”