Behind the White House’s Mixed Messages on AI Copyright
AI executives loved it when President Trump sided with them against copyright holders—but the White House dodged the topic in its AI Action Plan. Here’s why.
Before the White House released its AI Action Plan in July, people involved with drafting the document weighed whether to include recommendations that could have impacted the contentious relationship between artificial intelligence companies and copyright holders.
Publishers, authors, film and music companies have filed more than 40 lawsuits in the past few years, arguing that AI firms have infringed on their copyrights by using their data without permission to train large language models. AI companies have argued they’re abiding by fair use, a legal doctrine that allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from rights holders in certain situations.