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Google sued over Gemini training data, internal docs warned of billions in fines

A group of publishers and authors has filed a class-action lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of using copyrighted works without permission to train its artificial intelligence platform, Gemini. The plaintiffs include major publishers like Hachette Livre, Cengage Group, and Elsevier, as well as author Scott Turow and the organization S.C.R.I.B.E. The lawsuit also claims that Google intentionally deleted or altered copyright information in the works to "conceal the fact that the Gemini model was trained on stolen materials."

At the heart of the case is Google's use of books from Google Books and the Google Play Store. According to the lawsuit, publishers and authors had long provided copyrighted works to Google with the understanding that they would be used only to make books searchable through Google Books, which displays limited text excerpts and table of contents. However, the plaintiffs allege that Google later used full copies of those books to train Gemini, and also tapped into content from books uploaded to the Play Store—all without obtaining proper authorization.

Internal Google documents cited by the plaintiffs reveal that the company itself recognized the risks. The documents reportedly warned that using copyrighted books to train AI could lead to "serious issues" and expose the company to "potential fines ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars."

This lawsuit is part of a broader wave of legal challenges against AI companies over copyright infringement. Google, Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic have all faced similar disputes. Earlier rulings in California courts have favored AI companies, deciding that using copyrighted content to train AI models could be considered "fair use." However, the legal landscape remains unsettled. In a notable precedent, Anthropic was fined $1.5 billion for illegally using copyrighted works to train its AI, marking the largest copyright settlement in U.S. history. That case resulted in about 50,000 authors each receiving at least $3,000.

The new lawsuit against Google was filed in the U.S. Southern District Court of New York, meaning a different judge will have the opportunity to weigh in on whether AI training constitutes fair use. Google has not yet responded to requests for comment.

Key Points

  • Lawsuit filed: Publishers and authors accuse Google of using copyrighted books from Google Books and Play Store to train Gemini without permission.
  • Internal warnings: Google documents reportedly warned of "serious issues" and potential fines in the billions.
  • Legal context: The case adds to a growing number of copyright disputes against AI companies, with mixed rulings so far.
  • Precedent: Anthropic was fined $1.5 billion in a similar case, the largest copyright settlement in U.S. history.