Apple is facing a class-action lawsuit from neuroscientists Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik, who accuse the company of training its Apple Intelligence AI system on thousands of pirated books. The professors say Apple accessed “shadow libraries” — databases of illegally shared texts — that included their own works Sleights of Mind and Champions of Illusion.
The lawsuit, filed in California federal court, claims Apple’s actions violated copyright law and contributed to its record $200 billion market value jump following the Apple Intelligence launch. It seeks damages and a court order halting further misuse of protected materials.
The case is part of a broader legal battle over how AI companies train their models. Tech giants like OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta, and Anthropic have all faced similar suits, with Anthropic recently agreeing to a $1.5 billion settlement. Apple has yet to respond publicly.
