A group of well-known authors has sued Microsoft, claiming the company used their books without permission to train its artificial intelligence (AI) model named Megatron. The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in New York on Tuesday, June 25, 2025.
Authors including Kai Bird, Jia Tolentino, and Daniel Okrent said Microsoft used pirated digital versions of nearly 200,000 books to teach its AI to write responses similar to a human. They argue that the AI now mimics the style, themes, and voice of copyrighted works without paying or crediting the original writers.
The authors are asking the court to stop Microsoft from using their work and to pay up to $150,000 (around ₹1.28 crore) for each book misused. This case is one of many where writers, news companies, and creators have taken legal action against tech firms like Meta, Anthropic, and OpenAI for using their material in AI training.
Just a day earlier, a court in California ruled that Anthropic may have fairly used copyrighted content for AI training but could still be held responsible for using pirated copies.
Tech companies argue that using such content is “fair use” under copyright law and that paying for every piece of content would slow down the fast-growing AI industry.
Microsoft has not yet commented on the lawsuit. Meanwhile, the case adds pressure on lawmakers as India and other countries reconsider copyright rules in the age of AI.
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