Salesforce Sued Over Alleged Copyright Infringement in AI Training

Salesforce is facing a lawsuit filed by novelists Molly Tanzer and Jennifer Gilmore, who allege the company used pirated books to train its xGen series of large language models. The complaint was lodged on October 15 in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, accusing Salesforce of downloading, storing, and utilizing copyrighted material without permission.

Growing Trend of AI Copyright Disputes

This case follows a pattern of similar allegations across the AI industry. Last month, Anthropic settled for $1.5 billion over claims it trained models on millions of pirated books. Michael Bennett from the University of Illinois Chicago notes striking parallels between the cases.

The legal distinction hinges on "fair use" doctrine - while legally obtained works may qualify, illegally sourced materials do not enjoy this protection.

Potential Outcomes and Industry Impact

Analysts predict Salesforce will likely settle similarly to Anthropic. Kashyap Kompella of RPA2AI observes:

"This demonstrates copyright holders have significant legal leverage. Training data sourcing is now both a business imperative and legal consideration."

The lawsuit could damage Salesforce's reputation among enterprise clients who prioritize data provenance and licensing compliance when selecting AI vendors.

Enterprise Trust at Stake

The case highlights growing concerns about:

• Transparency in training data sources
• Proper licensing agreements
• Auditability of model development processes

Enterprise customers increasingly demand assurances about their vendors' data practices to mitigate legal and reputational risks.

Key Points:

• ⚖️ Lawsuit alleges unauthorized use of copyrighted books for AI training
• 🔄 Follows similar $1.5B settlement by Anthropic last month
• 🏢 Raises enterprise concerns about vendor data practices
• 📊 Potential impact on Salesforce's reputation with corporate clients