Meta Denies AI Training Claims in Porn Piracy Lawsuit, Argues Downloads Were for Personal Use
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Meta says porn downloads on its IPs were for "personal use," not AI training
This week, Meta asked a US district court to toss a lawsuit alleging that the tech giant illegally torrented pornography to train AI. The move comes after Strike 3 Holdings discovered illegal downloads of some of its adult films on Meta corporate IP addresses, as well as other downloads that Meta
[2]
Meta Claims Downloaded Porn at Center of AI Lawsuit Was for 'Personal Use'
This week, Meta asked a US district court to toss a lawsuit alleging that the tech giant illegally torrented pornography to train AI. The move comes after Strike 3 Holdings discovered illegal downloads of some of its adult films on Meta corporate IP addresses, as well as other downloads that Meta
[3]
Meta Says Porn Stash was for 'Personal Use,' Not Training AI Models
Meta forgot to keep its porn in a passworded folder, and now its kink for data collection is the subject of scrutiny. The social media giant turned metaverse company turned AI power is currently facing a lawsuit brought by adult film companies Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media, alleging that
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Meta says porn downloads were for 'personal use,' not training AI
Meta has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that claims the tech giant violated copyright laws by downloading thousands of adult films to use in AI training. The lawsuit was brought forth by adult film company Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media in July, stating that they had discovered
[5]
Meta Moves to Dismiss Porn-Piracy Suit, Calls AI-Training Claims 'Nonsensical' - Decrypt
The company denies using any adult content in its model, calling the AI-training theory "guesswork and innuendo." Meta has asked a U.S. court to dismiss a lawsuit that accused it of illegally downloading and distributing thousands of pornographic videos to train its artificial intelligence
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Meta claims that thousands of pirated adult videos it was accused of using for AI training may have been downloaded by 'disparate individuals' for 'personal use'
(Image credit: Getty Images / Brian A. Jackson/South Florida Sun Sentinel) Usually, when adult videos are discovered on a device, the response is to claim some grander purpose for their existence. Well, Meta isn't one to bow to convention, apparently, as it has recently struck back at claims that
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Meta Rejects Claims Using Pirated Porn in AI Training, Says Downloads Were for Personal Use
Meta Refutes Claims of Pirated Porn Use in AI Training and Model Refining as Allegations Meta Platforms, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, has been embroiled in another AI controversy. The lawsuit claims that the tech giant has used pirated adult films to train its AI models, which has
[8]
Meta Defends 2,400 Adult Videos Download Allegation; Says Content Wasn't Used to Train AI
Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media, the makers of popular adult entertainment brands such as Vixen, Tushy, Blacked, and Deeper, alleged that Meta downloaded at least 2,369 of their movies since 2018 to train its AI, according to TorrentFreak reports. The company checked its
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Meta has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging it illegally downloaded thousands of adult films to train AI models. The company argues the downloads were for personal use by employees and contractors, not corporate AI training.
Meta Faces Copyright Lawsuit Over Alleged AI Training Data
Meta is fighting back against a high-stakes copyright lawsuit that accuses the tech giant of illegally downloading thousands of adult films to train its artificial intelligence models. The case, filed by adult film companies Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media in July, seeks $359 million in damages and alleges that Meta systematically pirated nearly 2,400 pornographic videos since 2018
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Source: Analytics Insight
Strike 3 Holdings, which produces content under brands including Vixen, Blacked, and Tushy, claims it discovered illegal downloads on Meta's corporate IP addresses and through an alleged "stealth network" of 2,500 hidden IP addresses
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. The lawsuit alleges Meta used this material to train its Movie Gen video generator and other AI models, potentially developing an unannounced adult content version3
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Source: Ars Technica
Meta's Defense Strategy
In a motion to dismiss filed Monday, Meta vehemently denied the allegations, calling them "nonsensical and unsupported" and based on "guesswork and innuendo"
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. The company argues that Strike 3 Holdings has a reputation as a "copyright troll" that files extortive lawsuits1
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Source: PC Gamer
Meta's primary defense centers on the scale and timing of the alleged downloads. The company points out that only 157 of Strike 3's films were allegedly downloaded using Meta's corporate IP addresses over seven years, averaging roughly 22 downloads per year across 47 different addresses
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. This "meager, uncoordinated activity" suggests individual employees downloaded content for personal use rather than systematic corporate data collection, Meta argues1
.Timeline and Technical Arguments
Meta emphasizes that the alleged downloads began in 2018, approximately four years before the company started researching "Multimodal Models and Generative Video," making it implausible that the downloads were intended for AI training
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. The company also notes that its terms of service explicitly prohibit generating adult content, contradicting the premise that such materials would be useful for AI training1
.The tech giant argues that with "tens of thousands of employees" and "innumerable contractors, visitors, and third parties" accessing the internet at Meta facilities daily, the downloads could have been made by anyone from guests to repair personnel
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. Meta specifically cited one case where a contractor allegedly downloaded content at his father's house, describing these as "plainly indicative of personal consumption"3
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Broader Implications for AI Industry
The case highlights growing scrutiny over how tech companies acquire training data for AI models. Meta has faced similar copyright lawsuits from book authors whose works were allegedly pirated to train the company's Llama model
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. Legal experts suggest that if Meta's defense strategy succeeds, it could create a significant precedent for future AI training data cases.Dermot McGrath, co-founder of venture capital firm Ryze Labs, noted that Meta's approach of denying any use of the material in model training avoids having to argue fair use or justify inclusion of pirated content. However, he warned this could "open a massive loophole" that might "effectively undermine copyright protection for AI training data cases"
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