Google Stands with AI Users: Offers Legal Shield Against Copyright Claims

Google has announced its commitment to protect users of its generative AI technologies in Google Cloud and Workspace against intellectual property infringement allegations. This move aligns Google with Microsoft, Adobe, and other tech giants who have made similar assurances.

As the tech industry continues to pour investments into generative AI, integrating these cutting-edge systems into various products has prompted copyright concerns from creators. Numerous lawsuits have surfaced, accusing companies of both utilizing creators' work to train AI systems and the original content produced by these AIs as infringing on intellectual property rights.

Google distinguishes itself with a novel indemnification strategy, offering a dual-layer defense for both the training of AI systems and the output they generate, as stated by a company representative.

This policy extends to software on Google’s platforms, specifically mentioning its Vertex AI and Duet AI systems, which create text and images. However, Google’s better-known AI chatbot, Bard, was not referenced in the announcement.

The indemnification, Google notes, is void if users deliberately leverage generated content to violate others' copyrights.

Legal battles thus far have centered on AI developers rather than the end-users, with firms like Google in the crosshairs. In response, AI proprietors argue that using internet-sourced training data constitutes fair use, a claim that is now being tested in the courts.