Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson A Big Ruling on LLM Training and Midsummer Mail on NBA Salaries in Tech, Starting from Scratch in 2025, and More
Jun 26, 2025
A recent court ruling favors Anthropic in a pivotal case on copyrighted material and fair use for AI training. The discussion shifts to big tech salaries, the implications of AI in streamlining tasks, and future challenges for content creators. Insights on Apple’s relationship with China surface amid Huawei's rise, alongside a lighthearted debate about Taylor Swift's savvy tactics in reclaiming her music rights. The conversation also touches on the evolving perceptions of luxury watches and recommendations for budding collectors.
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Fair Use Enables AI Training
- The fair use doctrine balances intellectual property rights against the benefits of AI training and innovation.
- Large language models transform content rather than reproduce it, fitting within fair use.
Scale Dilutes Copyright Impact
- The inclusion of entire copyrighted works in AI training data is less material because any one book is relatively unimportant in massive corpora.
- The AI output is novel and not a facsimile, which suits fair use criteria.
IP Law Is a Policy Trade-off
- Intellectual property law is a policy trade-off, not absolute natural law, requiring balancing creator incentives against public benefits.
- Fair use's case-by-case nature reflects necessary tradeoffs in copyright enforcement.