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Academics sue over using pirated books for Apple Intelligence training

A pair of academic authors have launched a class action suit against Apple, because Apple Intelligence training used a repository of books known to contain pirated copy of their books.

Book cover titled 'Sleights of Mind' with a brain inside a magician's hat. Includes pricing, ratings, and details for audiobook and book release in March 2024.
Apple’s Books has a license to sell ‘Sleights of Mind.’ Apple Intelligence has no such thing

Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik are both professors at SUNY Health Sciences University in New York. The pair have alleged that “Champions of Illusion: The Science Behind Mind-Boggling Images and Mystifying Brain Puzzles” and “Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals About Our Everyday Deceptions” were raided without licensing to train Apple Intelligence.

In short, the pair of works may have been used in aggregate to train Apple’s Foundation Intelligence Models and OpenELM language models without proper licensing. Specifically, the complainants alleged in a filing on Friday afternoon that the materials are being used to test model performance, and as filters to prevent model outputs containing copyrighted material from hitting the screens of the end user.

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