Anthropic wins key US copyright ruling

👋 Good morning/evening (wherever you are). It’s Tuesday.

A federal judge ruled that Anthropic’s use of copyrighted books to train its AI system qualifies as fair use under U.S. copyright law.

The decision marks a key victory for AI companies facing copyright lawsuits, affirming that training AI can be transformative and legally protected.

However, the judge also found that Anthropic’s storage of over 7 million pirated books in a “central library” infringed copyrights and ordered a trial to determine damages, which could reach up to $150,000 per work.

Anthropic emphasized that its AI training promotes creativity and scientific progress, while authors argue the practice threatens their livelihoods by using pirated content without permission or compensation.

While this ruling marks a major legal victory for AI training, Anthropic now faces a December trial to determine damages for copyright infringement related to pirated book storage.

The decision will have significant implications for how AI companies handle copyrighted materials moving forward.

Switching gears:

This AI-generated sci-fi video will make you think again...

You used to dream about having this life. Now you’re just scrolling past it. 

We may be about to finish our final invention.

So when it boots up, what happens to the drive that built it?

It’s called Your Brain Is Broken On Purpose.

Watch it here.

OK let’s keep going ↓

Here’s what you should know:

• Amazon builds massive AI data center for Anthropic in Indiana

  Amazon is constructing a vast data center campus in Indiana, designed to support AI startup Anthropic with massive computing power and advanced chips, consuming enough electricity to power a million homes.

• Tesla launches limited robotaxi service in Austin

  Tesla has begun a limited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, marking an important step toward autonomous ride-hailing, though experts caution that broader deployment faces significant safety and scalability challenges.

• Google DeepMind launches Gemini Robotics On-Device

  Google DeepMind’s latest on-device AI model enables robots to perform complex, dexterous tasks with fast adaptation and low latency, even without internet connectivity.

• Google launches AI mode for search in India

  “We first introduced AI Mode as an experiment in the U.S. earlier this year, and started rolling out to users outside of Labs at Google I/O 2025. It's already resonating with users who appreciate its speed, quality, and fresh responses. Following this positive feedback, we’re excited to bring AI Mode to India, starting today, as an experiment in Labs in English.”

• Runway Game Worlds is coming soon (play.runwayml.com)

  What we know: Create and share simple text- and image-based games featuring dynamic, AI-generated storytelling that unlocks fresh creative possibilities for interactive experiences.

  

The numbers:

• Abridge raised $300M to scale its AI note-taking tech aimed at reducing physician burnout.

• Decagon secured a $131M Series C at a $1.5B valuation, co-led by a16z and Accel, building conversational AI agents.

• Swimlane closed a $45M round led by Energy Impact Partners and Activate Capital to grow its AI hyper-automation platform.

• Outset raised a $17M Series A led by 8VC for its AI-moderated research platform.

Thought starters:

If the chart below is roughly accurate, we are witnessing the fastest consumer adoption of any technology in history.

Over the past 4 weeks, ChatGPT has averaged an estimated 1 million daily downloads on iOS, outpacing the combined downloads of major social apps.

This rapid growth reflects a clear shift in how people use AI tools every day.

Meme of the day:

Thanks for reading,

Eddie

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