Big Tech lands an early win in legal battles against publishers

Equity

This week, two major AI companies scored early wins in court, with federal judges siding with Meta and Anthropic in separate lawsuits over how their models were trained on copyrighted material.

The decisions represent the first real legal validation of AI companies’ argument that training models on books, images, and other creative works can be considered “fair use” — even if those materials weren’t obtained with permission. It’s a big deal for companies building generative AI, and a potential turning point for the many lawsuits still in motion.

Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Max Zeff and Anthony Ha were joined by Sean O’Kane (who graciously stepped in while Kirsten headed off to the Nevada desert to see the next big act of Redwood Materials, the battery recycling and materials startup founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel) to dive deeper into the rulings. While neither case sets a precedent yet, Anthony noted that appeals are likely, and broader challenges could ultimately shape how AI companies interact with entire industries going forward.

Listen to the full episode to hear more highlights from the week, including:

• Kalshi’s $185M round, and what it says about the rising (and legally murky) world of prediction markets

• The startup betting on reusable satellites, and why the Department of Defense is paying attention

• Tesla’s robotaxi rollout in Austin, and how it stacks up against Waymo and other AV companies’ approaches

Equity will be back next week, so stay tuned!

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday.

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.

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