Salesforce faces lawsuit from authors over AI model training data
Salesforce (CRM) is facing a proposed class action lawsuit accusing it of using copyrighted books without permission to train its xGen artificial intelligence models. The complaint, filed Wednesday in a U.S. court, was brought by authors Molly Tanzer and Jennifer Gilmore, who allege that the cloud-computing firm infringed their copyrights by using their works to develop language-processing AI.
The lawsuit claims Salesforce used “thousands of pirated books” written by the plaintiffs and other authors to train its AI systems, echoing similar suits filed against other tech giants like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta over the use of copyrighted material in AI training datasets.
“It’s important that companies that use copyrighted material for AI products are transparent,” said Joseph Saveri, the authors’ attorney, who has led several high-profile copyright cases against AI companies. “Our clients deserve fair compensation when their creative work is used.”
Salesforce has declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In an ironic twist, the complaint notes that Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has previously criticized other AI firms for using “stolen” training data, arguing that compensating creators would be “very easy to do.” The lawsuit quotes that statement, suggesting Salesforce failed to follow its own advice.
The case adds to a growing list of legal battles testing how intellectual property laws apply in the age of AI model training, with potentially wide-ranging implications for the industry.
