Google Wins AI Lawsuit, But Data Use Concerns Remain

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U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin issued a two-page order announcing the dismissal of the case. She cited concerns raised by another California judge in a related lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria had expressed reservations about the OpenAI complaint, stating that it contained numerous unnecessary and distracting allegations, making it challenging to assess the adequacy of the plaintiffs’ legal claims. Chhabria dismissed the case but allowed for it to be refiled.

Martinez-Olguin’s order indicated that the nine individuals who sued Google could amend their complaint. She suggested that the amended complaint should be more focused and articulate the theory of the case in a clearer manner.

Ryan Clarkson of the Clarkson Law Firm, who represents the plaintiffs in both cases, and spokespeople for Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision.

The lawsuit, filed in July, accused Google of utilizing content from social media and its own platforms without permission to train AI systems. This case is part of a broader trend of legal challenges against tech companies for their alleged unauthorized use of various content types, including books, newspaper articles, visual art, and personal data, for AI training purposes.

Google defended its practices in October, arguing that the use of publicly available data is essential for training AI systems. The company contended that the lawsuit would severely hinder the development of generative AI.