Thomson Reuters accusing Ross Intelligence of unlawfully copying content from its legal research platform Westlaw to train a competing artificial intelligence-based platform, a Delaware federal judge said on Monday.
The decision by US Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas sets the stage for what could be one of the first trials related to the unauthorised use of data to train AI systems. Tech companies including Meta Platforms, Stability AI and Microsoft-backed OpenAI are also facing lawsuits from authors, visual artists and other copyright owners over the use of their work to train the companies' generative AI software.
A spokesperson for Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters News, said it looks forward to presenting evidence to a jury.
«This case continues to be about Ross' theft of Thomson Reuters proprietary commentary, analysis, and organisational system,» the spokesperson said. «We sought summary judgment on select issues because we believe the facts of the case are clear cut.»
Representatives for Ross did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Thomson Reuters' 2020 lawsuit accused legal research company Ross Intelligence of copying Westlaw's «headnotes,» which summarise points of law in court opinions. Thomson Reuters accused Ross of misusing thousands of the headnotes to train its AI-based legal search engine.
Ross said it