Generative AI models are trained on massive amounts of content, much of which is copyrighted. In one of the first court cases to take on the question of training AI on copyrighted material, Judge William Alsup noted this activity is “transformative—spectacularly so” and a lawful fair use. However, given the risks of fighting in court, AI companies may settle copyright cases or buy licenses to train. These privately negotiated licenses will entrench the best-funded and earliest-arriving companies, making it harder for smaller developers, researchers, and non-profits to create alternatives to big AI.  Equally importantly, AI anxiety must not be used as a pretext to erode fair use protections for future general purpose tools.

EFF defends the development and lawful uses of general purpose tools. EFF also supports efforts, like Open Source AI, to help inject real competition into AI development.