Reddit initiates legal action against AI company Anthropic, claiming unauthorized collection of user comments to develop and enhance chatbot Claude.
Reddit's legal battle against AI company Anthropic rocketed this week, with the online platform accusing Anthropic of swiping millions of Reddit users' comments for the training of its chatbot, Claude.
According to Reddit, Anthropic's shady tactics involve deploying automated bots to mine Reddit's content, despite being specifically requested to cease and desist. The allegations reach further, accusing Anthropic of intentionally using Reddit users' personal data in training Claude, all without seeking consent.
In response, Anthropic has fired back, stating that the claims are bogus and they'll stand their ground in court.
The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco, notably points out both companies' hometown. Ben Lee, Reddit's top legal eagle, wasn't mincing words when expressing his disdain: "Scraping information and content from folks without clear boundaries on the data usage is unacceptable, AI companies included."
Reddit has a history of entering licensing agreements with tech titans like Google and OpenAI, allowing these giants to tap into the expansive commentary of Reddit's over 100 million daily users for AI development. These deals, Lee emphasized, permit Reddit to uphold crucial protections for its users: the right to delete content, privacy safeguards, and anti-spam measures.
The agreements also served as a cash cow for the 20-year-old platform prior to its Wall Street debut last year.
Anthropic is a newer player in the AI arena, founded by ex-OpenAI execs in 2021. Claude, Anthropic's flagship chatbot, is shooting for the top by challenging OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot, with Microsoft and Amazon as its primary commercial allies. Not unlike other AI companies, Anthropic has relied on compendiums of data from sources such as Wikipedia and Reddit to teach Claude the ropes of human speech.
A 2021 research paper co-authored by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei (cited in the lawsuit) outlined the subreddits with highest-quality data for AI training. These subreddits focused on specialized topics like gardening, history, relationship advice, even musings from the shower.
While Anthropic maintains Claude's training methods comply with legal regulations, claiming the process involves making copies of information for statistical analysis purposes, they are bracing for legal battles. Major music publishers are already suing Anthropic, alleging Claude regurgitates copyrighted lyrics.
Unlike previous lawsuits against AI companies, Reddit's lawsuit steers clear from copyright infringement. Instead, it zeroes in on a breach of Reddit's terms of use and the alleged market disruption caused by Anthropic's unauthorized access.
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Enrichment Data:Reddit's lawsuit against Anthropic is founded on several breaches of Reddit's user agreement:
- Breach of Contract: Reddit accuses Anthropic of violating their user agreement by using Reddit's content for commercial purposes without adhering to the proper licensing agreements.
- Trespass to Chattels: The lawsuit states that Anthropic violated users' rights by accessing the platform illegally, bypassing Reddit's technological safeguards, and using its data without authorization.
- Unjust Enrichment: Anthropic gained an unfair advantage by using Reddit's data without compensation, which is a key issue in question.
- Tortious Interference: Reddit alleges that Anthropic's actions interfered with its ability to conduct its business.
- Unfair Competition: Reddit accuses Anthropic of unfair competition by bypassing normal licensing agreements and protections.
- Ignoring Robots.txt: Anthropic reportedly ignored Reddit's directives communicated via robots.txt, which instructs web crawlers and other web robots about how to navigate the website.
- Microsoft, being a commercial ally of Anthropic, could find itself embroiled in the ongoing legal dispute between Anthropic and Reddit, given the accusations of breach of contract and unfair business practices against Anthropic.
- The business operations of both Seattle-based tech giants, Amazon and Microsoft, might be impacted if Anthropic is found guilty of the alleged market disruption caused by Anthropic's unauthorized access to Reddit's data.
- In the midst of its fight with Anthropic, it remains to be seen whether Reddit will continue its practice of allowing technology companies like Google and OpenAI access to its vast trove of user comments for AI development, or if it will tighten its licensing agreements to prevent future incidents like the one with Anthropic.
