Steampunk Author Sues AI Company Over Copyright Infringement

An Oklahoma author who coined the term "steampunk" is suing the AI company Anthropic. K.W. Jeter claims Anthropic downloaded pirated works to train its large language models. He joins dozens of other authors who say Anthropic's Claude AI model is built on original human-created works copied without permission or compensation. The lawsuit states Anthropic trains its AI models by feeding them massive collections of text, including copyrighted works totaling billions of words. As a result, the AI models provide human-like text responses. Jeter is known for coining "steampunk" in a 1987 letter to Locus magazine. He also wrote sequels to the first Blade Runner film and contributed to the Star Wars and Star Trek universes. This lawsuit seeks $150,000 per work, a significant increase from an earlier class action settlement. Anthropic has not yet responded to the lawsuit. This case highlights ongoing concerns about AI's use of copyrighted material.