Key ex-OpenAI researcher subpoenaed in AI copyright case – TechCrunch
Latest
AI
Amazon
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Cloud Computing
Commerce
Crypto
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Fundraising
Gadgets
Gaming
Government & Policy
Hardware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
Security
Social
Space
Startups
TikTok
Transportation
Venture
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Newsletters
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
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 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.Topics
Senior Reporter, Enterprise
Volkswagen’s cheapest EV ever is the first to use Rivian software
OpenAI reportedly plans to charge up to $20,000 a month for specialized AI ‘agents’
OpenAI’s GPT-4.5 AI model comes to more ChatGPT users
Ahead of a possible $4 billion IPO, CoreWeave’s founders already pocketed $488 million
YouTube launches a $7.99 per month, ad-free Premium Lite subscription
Kevin Rose, Alexis Ohanian acquire Digg
Mach Industries, founded by 21-year-old Ethan Thornton, lands US Army contract, builds weapons factory
Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech newsEvery weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch’s coverage.TechCrunch’s AI experts cover the latest news in the fast-moving field.Every Monday, gets you up to speed on the latest advances in aerospace.Startups are the core of TechCrunch, so get our best coverage delivered weekly.By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice.© 2024 Yahoo.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/04/key-ex-openai-researcher-subpoenaed-in-ai-copyright-case/
