Apple Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Alleged Use of Pirated Books to Train Apple Intelligence

Apple is facing a new class action lawsuit that accuses the tech giant of using thousands of pirated books from illegal “shadow libraries” to train its Apple Intelligence AI system. The complaint, filed in California federal court, adds Apple to a growing list of technology companies embroiled in high-stakes copyright infringement battles over AI training data.

Neuroscientists Take Legal Action

Two neuroscientists from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, New York—Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik—filed the lawsuit on Thursday, claiming Apple unlawfully used their copyrighted works without permission or compensation. The professors specifically cite their books “Champions of Illusion: The Science Behind Mind-Boggling Images and Mystifying Brain Puzzles” and “Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals About Our Everyday Deceptions” as examples of copyrighted material used in training Apple’s AI model[1].

The lawsuit alleges that Apple utilized datasets containing thousands of pirated books and other copyright-infringing materials scraped from the internet to develop Apple Intelligence, the suite of AI-powered features now integrated into iOS devices including iPhones and iPads[1].

A Lucrative Launch Under Legal Scrutiny

The timing of the lawsuit is particularly notable. According to the complaint, Apple gained more than $200 billion in market value the day after officially introducing Apple Intelligence—described in the lawsuit as “the single most lucrative day in the history of the company”[1]. This dramatic increase in valuation underscores the significant commercial value that AI capabilities have brought to Apple’s product ecosystem.

The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages and a court order requiring Apple to cease using their copyrighted work in its AI training operations[1].

Part of a Broader Legal Battle

This lawsuit against Apple is far from isolated. Technology companies including OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms are all facing similar legal challenges from copyright owners—including authors, news outlets, and music labels—over the unauthorized use of their work in AI training[1]. The legal landscape shifted significantly in August when Anthropic agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a lawsuit from authors over the training of its AI-powered chatbot Claude[1].

A separate group of authors also sued Apple last month over alleged misuse of their work in AI training, indicating that the company may face multiple fronts in this legal battle[1].

What This Means for AI Development

As AI technology continues to advance rapidly, the question of how companies can legally obtain training data remains contentious. The use of copyrighted material without authorization or compensation has become a central issue in the AI industry, with potentially billions of dollars at stake in various legal proceedings.

Apple, along with other tech companies, will need to navigate these copyright challenges as they continue developing and deploying AI-powered features. The outcome of these lawsuits could establish important precedents for how AI companies must handle copyrighted content in their training datasets.

As of Friday, spokespeople for Apple and the plaintiffs’ legal team had not responded to requests for comment on the new complaint[1].

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