ORDER by Judge Lisa J. Cisneros: In their 303 supplemental brief, Defendants reference Dr. Emily Wenger, disclosed as an expert in In re Google Generative AI Copyright Litigation, 23-cv-03440-EKL, to illustrate that there are alternative, qualified experts who do not share Dr. Ben Zhao’s alleged “focus on studying and developing tools that sabotage Defendants’ models.”
The Court recognizes that Plaintiffs have not disclosed Dr. Wenger pursuant to 7.4 of the Protective Order and that Defendants have not had the opportunity to object to her potential inclusion as an expert. In order to evaluate if Dr. Wenger could be an alternative to Dr. Zhao, Plaintiffs shall provide Defendants with the information listed in 7.4(a)(2) of the Protective Order for Dr. Wenger by June 12, 2025.
The parties shall then meet and confer regarding whether Dr. Wenger may serve as a suitable alternative to Dr. Zhao to access materials designated as “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE” under the Protective Order. The parties shall file a joint status report, not to exceed four pages, by June 16, 2025, regarding the suitability of Dr. Wenger.
You can see Dr. Wenger’s CV here. She is currently an assistant professor at Duke. She was “named to the 2024 Forbes 30 under 30 list for my work on Glaze, a tool that protects artists’ work from unwanted use in generative AI models.”
Editor’s Note: The idea of Dr. Emily Wenger serving as an expert came up at yesterday’s hearing. Joe Gratz, lawyer for Stability AI, said that the defendants don’t have an expert disclosure for her (because the plaintiffs want Dr. Ben Zhao to serve as their expert). Gratz indicated that the defendants might be OK with Dr. Wenger, despite her being a former student of Dr. Zhao, because Wenger might not have worked on the Nightshade poisoning tool that the defendants are most concerned about (but instead worked only on Glaze). It sounds like Magistrate Judge Cisneros would like the parties to determine if Dr. Wenger is an expert that both sides can agree would be acceptable.
Here’s Dr. Wenger explaining the Glaze tool:
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