Yesterday, we announced the launch of our AI Copyright Case Tracker. We think it provides the public with a wealth of information and insights about the 130 copyright lawsuits against AI companies raging around the world.
Fully 100 of the copyright lawsuits have been filed right here in the United States, where most of the top AI companies are headquartered–and trained their AI models.
One insight that the AI Copyright Case Tracker vividly shows is that OpenAI faces the most copyright lawsuits of all, by far. Indeed, the number of copyright lawsuits against OpenAI is more than double the next closest amount for a defendant. Meta faces 11 lawsuits but 4 of them are consolidated book author suits alleging the same claims.
OpenAI faces not only a host of book author lawsuits, it faces lawsuits filed by New York Times, a host of other newspapers, and a host of other online media organizations, plus the Doe 1 v. Github lawsuit.
On top of that, OpenAI faces the most copyright lawsuits in the rest of the world: 2 in Germany, 2 in South Korea, 3 in Canada, 1 in Brazil, and 1 in India.
No other AI company comes close to facing this barrage of copyright suits.
A third factor may be that OpenAI’s switch from a non-profit has rankled people in a way that the fully for-profit AI companies, such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Perplexity, and many other AI startups have not.
Although these AI companies have not received the venom or flak for being for-profit companies instead of non-profits as OpenAI has, Google and the others never promised to be a non-profit, let alone with a mission to develop AI for the betterment of humanity. Instead, they were for-profit corporations from their birth. They were, in short, “open” about their money-making goals.
But OpenAI allegedly was not.
Musk v. Altman
We also can’t forget that OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman are facing a fraud lawsuit filed by Elon Musk. Musk alleges that Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI fraudulently persuaded Musk to donate his time, money, and efforts to building a non-profit AI lab with a mission to develop AI for the benefit all of humanity.
But Musk says it was all a lie: Altman and Brockman wanted to make money and used the “non-profit” pitch as a bait-and-switch to launch a for-profit company that would make them rich.
From Musk’s lawsuit:
Musk v. Altman goes to trial later this month in Oakland federal court.
Of course, Musk has his own AI company, xAI. It was a public benefit corporation (PBC) but then reportedly dropped that structure before it merged with X, a for-profit corporation.
So, while Musk wants OpenAI to be a non-profit for the benefit of humanity, Musk’s own AI company is not.
And, to my knowledge, the only major AI company that is not a fully for-profit corporation is Anthropic, which is a PBC.
Anti-Altman Narrative
Altman also faces a barrage of scathing exposes of his character–or, what these accounts suggest, the lack thereof.
First is the bestseller written by Karen Hao, Empire of AI. It paints Altman in a most unflattering light.
Not to be outdone, Ronan Farrow just published a perhaps even more scathing expose of Altman in the New Yorker with the provocative title: “Sam Altman May Control Our Future: “Can He Be Trusted?”
The timing of this expose right before the trial in Musk v. Altman starts is fortuitous.
The Short-Term Firing of Altman
Of course, let’s not forget that Altman faced a corporate coup. For a short time in 2023, the Board removed him because they apparently didn’t find his comments and explanations to the Board trustworthy. (This saga is the subject of Hao’s bestselling book.)
But, when many OpenAI employees threatened to leave OpenAI, it was the Board that was sacked and Altman returned. Chastened, but triumphant.
Why OpenAI?
So, what explains all the copyright lawsuits against OpenAI, on top of the Musk v. Altman suit? It seems like it is open season on OpenAI. No other AI company comes close to facing this amount of lawsuits—or potential exposure to damages if liability is found even in just one or two suits.
One possibility is that OpenAI started out as the AI industry leader in January 2023. So it was the King of the Mountain.
Another possibility is anti-Altman sentiment is fueling, at least in part, all the lawsuits against Altman and also OpenAI. None of the other AI companies has a CEO as polarizing, except, ironically, Musk’s xAI.
A third factor may be that OpenAI’s switch from a non-profit has rankled people in a way that the fully for-profit AI companies, such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Perplexity, and many other AI startups have not.
Although these AI companies have not received the venom or flak for being for-profit companies instead of non-profits as OpenAI has, Google and the others never promised to be a non-profit, let alone with a mission to develop AI for the betterment of humanity. Instead, they were for-profit corporations from their birth. They were, in short, “open” about their money-making goals.
But OpenAI allegedly was not.
Related Story