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Key ex-OpenAI researcher subpoenaed in AI copyright case | TechCrunch
Alec Radford, a researcher who helped develop many of OpenAI's key AI technologies, has been subpoenaed in a copyright case against the AI startup, according to a court filing Tuesday. The filing, submitted by an attorney for the plaintiffs to the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, indicated that Radford was served a subpoena on February 25. Radford, who left OpenAI late last year to pursue independent research, was the lead author of OpenAI's seminal research paper on generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs). GPTs underpin OpenAI's most popular products, including the company's AI-powered chatbot platform, ChatGPT. Radford joined OpenAI in 2016, a year after the firm's founding. He worked on several models in the company's GPT series, as well as a speech recognition model, Whisper, and DALL-E, the company's image-generating model. The copyright case, "re OpenAI ChatGPT Litigation," was brought by book authors including Paul Tremblay, Sarah Silverman, and Michael Chabon, who alleged that OpenAI infringed their copyrights by using their work to train its AI models. The plaintiffs also argued that ChatGPT infringed their works by liberally quoting those works sans attribution. Last year, the Court dismissed two of the plaintiffs' claims against OpenAI, but allowed the claim for direct infringement to move forward. OpenAI maintains its use of copyrighted data for training is protected under fair use. Redford isn't the only high-profile figure who attorneys for the authors are attempting to wrangle. Plaintiffs' lawyers have also moved to compel the deposition of Dario Amodei and Benjamin Mann, both ex-OpenAI employees who left the company to start Anthropic. Amodei and Mann have fought the motions, claiming they're overly burdensome. A U.S. magistrate judge ruled this week that Amodei must sit for hours of questioning about the work he did for OpenAI in two copyright cases, including a case filed by the Authors Guild.
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Alec Radford leaves OpenAI and now he's being pulled into a lawsuit
Alec Radford, a former key researcher at OpenAI, has been subpoenaed in a copyright case against the AI startup, according to a court filing submitted on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Radford received the subpoena on February 25, according to a report from TechCrunch. Radford left OpenAI late last year to pursue independent research. He is recognized as the lead author of OpenAI's foundational research paper on generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs), which are integral to many of OpenAI's popular products, including the chatbot platform ChatGPT. Since joining OpenAI in 2016, Radford contributed to several models in the GPT series, as well as other projects such as the speech recognition model Whisper and the image-generating model DALL-E. The lawsuit, referred to as the "re OpenAI ChatGPT Litigation," was initiated by authors Paul Tremblay, Sarah Silverman, and Michael Chabon. They claim that OpenAI violated their copyrights by utilizing their work to train its AI models and that ChatGPT infringed upon their works by quoting them without proper attribution. OpenAI wins this round! Judge rejects Musk's bid to stop profit shift While the court dismissed two claims against OpenAI last year, it allowed the direct infringement claim to proceed. OpenAI asserts that its use of copyrighted data for training falls under fair use protections. Radford is not the sole ex-OpenAI employee targeted in this case. Plaintiffs' attorneys have also sought to compel the depositions of Dario Amodei and Benjamin Mann, both former OpenAI employees who co-founded Anthropic. They have challenged the motions, citing them as overly burdensome. This week, a U.S. magistrate judge ruled that Amodei must undergo extensive questioning regarding his work at OpenAI in connection with two copyright cases, including one filed by the Authors Guild.
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Alec Radford, a key former OpenAI researcher, has been subpoenaed in a copyright infringement lawsuit against the AI company. The case, brought by prominent authors, challenges OpenAI's use of copyrighted material in training its AI models.
Alec Radford, a prominent former researcher at OpenAI, has been subpoenaed in a high-profile copyright case against the AI startup. According to a court filing submitted on Tuesday to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Radford was served the subpoena on February 25, 2025 12.
Radford, who joined OpenAI in 2016, played a crucial role in developing many of the company's key AI technologies. He is recognized as the lead author of OpenAI's seminal research paper on generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs), which form the foundation of popular products like ChatGPT 1. During his tenure, Radford contributed to several models in the GPT series, as well as other significant projects such as the speech recognition model Whisper and the image-generating model DALL-E 12.
The lawsuit, known as "re OpenAI ChatGPT Litigation," was initiated by a group of prominent authors, including Paul Tremblay, Sarah Silverman, and Michael Chabon. The plaintiffs allege that OpenAI infringed their copyrights by using their works to train its AI models without permission. Additionally, they claim that ChatGPT further infringed upon their works by quoting them extensively without proper attribution 12.
While the court dismissed two of the plaintiffs' claims against OpenAI last year, it allowed the claim for direct infringement to move forward. OpenAI maintains that its use of copyrighted data for training purposes is protected under fair use doctrine 12.
Radford is not the only former OpenAI employee being targeted in this case. Plaintiffs' attorneys have also moved to compel the depositions of Dario Amodei and Benjamin Mann, both ex-OpenAI employees who left to co-found Anthropic. Amodei and Mann have challenged these motions, arguing that they are excessively burdensome 12.
In a related development, a U.S. magistrate judge ruled this week that Dario Amodei must undergo extensive questioning about his work at OpenAI. This ruling applies to two copyright cases, including one filed by the Authors Guild 12.
This case highlights the ongoing tension between rapid advancements in AI technology and existing copyright laws. As AI models continue to be trained on vast amounts of data, including copyrighted works, the legal landscape surrounding these practices remains uncertain. The outcome of this lawsuit could have far-reaching implications for the AI industry and how companies approach the use of copyrighted material in AI training 12.
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