26/06/2025

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | JUNE 26, 2025

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Judge: Copyrighted books are ’fair use’ for AI training

Trump admin to open up vast area of forest to development WASHINGTON: Donald Trump’s administration said it will open up vast areas of pristine national forest to development and timber harvesting, stripping away protections in place for 25 years. A total of 23 million hectares – roughly the size of Idaho, the 14th largest US state – is at stake in the administration’s latest roll-back of environmental protections to further business interests. The change was announced on Monday after Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins attended an event in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Rollins said the Trump administration would repeal what is known as the “roadless rule” dating from 2001, which preserved the untouched nature of a third of the land in US national forests. The rule introduced by then president Bill Clinton under executive authority outlawed logging, road building, mining and drilling on undeveloped national forest lands. At the time it was hailed as a huge step in protecting wild, untouched US lands with their bounty of clean water, wildlife, hunting and fishing. But Rollins dismissed the rule as outdated. “Once again, President Trump is removing absurd obstacles to common-sense management of our natural resources by rescinding the overly restrictive roadless rule,” she said in a statement. Critics said with the forest protection repeal the Trump administration is treating untouched public land as fodder for industry to make money. “The Roadless Rule has been remarkably successful in protecting our nation’s forests from destructive energy development, mining, logging and road building for nearly 25 years,” Josh Hicks, conservation campaigns director at The Wilderness Society, said in a statement. “Any attempt to revoke it is an attack on the air and water we breathe and drink, abundant recreational opportunities which millions of people enjoy each year, havens for wildlife and critical buffers for communities threatened by increasingly severe wildfire seasons.“ – AFP PARIS: Visitors to France’s famed Palace of Versailles can now strike up a conversation with talking statues instead of listening to a traditional audio guide, as part of a new collaboration with artificial intelligence companies. Versailles late on Monday announced a partnership with US-based OpenAI and French start-up Ask Mona to bring a modern AI touch to the iconic 17th-century palace. Curious visitors can delve into Versailles’ rich history by scanning a QR code next to one of some 20 garden statues – triggering interactive conversations in French, English, or Spanish. “The Palace of Versailles is now testing artificial intelligence, whose tremendous capabilities will greatly enrich the visitor experience,” said museum president Christophe Leribault. The heritage site welcomes some eight million visitors annually, with OpenAI and Ask Mona saying it was a golden opportunity to showcase their technology in a world-famous location. “Whether you’re a heritage expert, a museum curator, or a visitor setting foot in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles for the first time, there’s something for everyone,” said Julie Lavet, OpenAI’s head of European partnerships. “Often, when we think of artificial intelligence, we think of it in terms of productivity, but here, it’s really artificial intelligence that is a lever for curiosity,”said Ask Mona’s president Marion Carre. – AFP France’s Versailles unveils AI-powered talking statues

o Decision has potential to set major legal precedent

Anthropic’s aim was to amass a library of “all the books in the world” for training AI models on content as deemed fit, the judge said in his ruling. While training AI models on the pirated content posed no legal violation, downloading pirated copies to build a general-purpose library constituted copyright infringement, the judge ruled, regardless of eventual training use. The case will now proceed to trial on damages related to the pirated library copies, with potential penalties including financial damages. Anthropic said it disagreed with going to trial on this part of the decision and was evaluating its legal options. “Judge Alsup’s decision is a mixed bag,” said Keith Kupferschmid, chief executive of US nonprofit Copyright Alliance. “In some instances AI companies should be happy with the decision and in other instances copyright owners should be happy.” Valued at US$61.5 billion (RM260 billion) and heavily backed by Amazon, Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives. The company, known for its Claude chatbot and AI models, positions itself as focused on AI safety and responsible development. – AFP

companies that used their data without permission or payment. AI companies generally defend their practices by claiming fair use, arguing that training AI on large datasets fundamentally transforms the original content and is necessary for innovation. “We are pleased that the court recognised that using ‘works to train LLMs was transformative,’” an Anthropic spokesperson said in response to an AFP query. The judge’s decision is “consistent with copyright’s purpose in enabling creativity and fostering scientific progress”, the spokesperson added. The ruling stems from a class-action lawsuit filed by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, who accused Anthropic of illegally copying their books to train Claude, the company’s AI chatbot that rivals ChatGPT. However, Alsup rejected Anthropic’s bid for blanket protection, ruling that the company’s practice of downloading millions of pirated books to build a permanent digital library was not justified by fair use protections. Along with downloading books from websites offering pirated works, Anthropic bought copyrighted books, scanned the pages and stored them in digital formats, according to court documents.

SAN FRANCISCO: A US federal judge has sided with Anthropic regarding training its artificial intelligence models on copyrighted books without authors’ permission, a decision with the potential to set a major legal precedent in AI deployment. District court judge William Alsup ruled on Monday that the company’s training of its Claude AI models with books bought or pirated was allowed under the “fair use” doctrine in the US Copyright Act. “Use of the books at issue to train Claude and its precursors was exceedingly transformative and was a fair use,” Alsup wrote in his decision. “The technology at issue was among the most transformative many of us will see in our lifetimes,” Alsup added in his 32-page decision, comparing AI training to how humans learn by reading books. Tremendous amounts of data are needed to train large language models powering generative AI. Musicians, book authors, visual artists and news publications have sued various AI

A Tesla robotaxi drives on the street along South Congress Avenue in Austin. – REUTERSPIC

Regulators following up on possible Tesla robotaxi infractions NEW YORK: US safety regulators contacted Tesla after its self-driving cars stopped abruptly, sped or swerved into the wrong lane as the company began limited robotaxi service, US officials said on Tuesday. meet standards and investigates possible defects. “Following an assessment of those reports and other relevant information, NHTSA will take any necessary actions to protect road safety,” the agency said. NHTSA said an investigation into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software begun in October 2024 “remains open”. expressed regrets about some remarks he said upon his departure from Washington.

The agency said it is in the process of reviewing Tesla’s input on the probe, but that the firm has labeled the response “confidential business information”under the Vehicle Safety Act. “Given this requirement, Tesla’s response has been redacted accordingly,” NHTSA said. “Following an assessment of these responses and other relevant information, NHTSA will take any necessary actions to protect road safety.” – AFP

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is following up on videos posted online of Sunday’s launch in Texas showed questionable driving. “NHTSA is aware of the referenced incidents and is in contact with the manufacturer to gather additional information,” the agency said. NHTSA said it does not “pre-approve” new technologies, but does certify that vehicles

On Sunday near its corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas, Tesla began its long-awaited robotaxi service, an initial startup that Elon Musk’s backers believe could lead to the company’s next growth wave. The long-awaited launch followed the dramatic meltdown this month in relations between the Musk and US President Donald Trump. Musk, however, has most recently