Adobe Sued Over Alleged Misuse of Authors' Work in AI Training

Breaking News: Adobe Hit with Proposed Class-Action Lawsuit Over AI Training Data Adobe, a leading software firm, has been hit with a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing the company of misusing authors' work in training its AI models. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Oregon author Elizabeth Lyon, claims that Adobe used pirated versions of numerous books, including Lyon's own guidebooks for non-fiction writing, to train its SlimLM program. SlimLM is a small language model series designed for document assistance tasks on mobile devices. The lawsuit was filed in response to Adobe's recent launch of AI services, including its AI-powered media-generation suite, Firefly. According to the complaint, Adobe used a pre-training dataset that included manipulated and pirated versions of authors' works to train its AI models. The lawsuit alleges that Lyon's writing was included in a processed subset of this dataset without her consent. Adobe had launched Firefly in 2023, and since then, the company has been actively promoting its AI services. The lawsuit was filed in December 2023, and it is seeking class-action status to represent all authors whose works may have been used in Adobe's AI training data without their permission. The immediate impact of the lawsuit is unclear, but it is likely to raise concerns about the use of copyrighted materials in AI training data. Adobe has not commented on the lawsuit, but the company has stated that its AI models are trained on open-source datasets and that it takes intellectual property rights seriously. In the background, the use of AI in software development has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Adobe's AI-powered services, including Firefly, are designed to assist users in generating media content, and the company has been actively promoting its AI capabilities. However, the lawsuit highlights the need for companies to ensure that they are using copyrighted materials in a way that respects the rights of authors and creators. As the lawsuit moves forward, it is likely to have significant implications for the use of AI in software development and the protection of intellectual property rights. The outcome of the lawsuit will be closely watched by the tech industry and may lead to changes in the way companies use AI training data in the future.