AI's Legal Challenge - Jury to Unravel Thomson Reuters and Ross Intelligence Dispute

Thomson Reuters Corp TRI will face Ross Intelligence in court, as a Delaware federal judge ruled that a jury should decide the lawsuit's outcome. 

Thomson Reuters accuses Ross Intelligence of unlawfully copying content from its legal research platform, Westlaw, to develop a competing AI-based platform.

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U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas' decision could potentially lead to one of the first trials concerning the unauthorized use of data for training AI systems, Reuters noted. 

This case is part of a broader legal landscape where tech giants like Meta Platforms Inc META and Microsoft Corp MSFT-backed OpenAI are under scrutiny for similar reasons. 

The companies are facing legal challenges from authors and artists who claim their copyrighted works have been used without permission to train AI software.

The information services giant filed a 2020 lawsuit alleging that Ross Intelligence copied Westlaw's "headnotes" to train its AI-based legal search engine. 

These headnotes, which summarize vital legal points from court opinions, were allegedly misused by Ross, the suit claims. 

The defendant, however, countered these claims, citing fair use and stating that the headnotes were employed to locate judicial opinions, not as a direct competition to Westlaw.

Ross shut down its platform in January 2021, attributing the closure to the financial strain caused by the ongoing litigation.

The company has maintained that its use of the Westlaw material was fair and legal, setting the stage for a legal battle that could influence future AI and copyright law cases. 

Judge Bibas expressed that he couldn't decide on fair use and other complex issues surrounding the case unilaterally. 

The transformation of the Westlaw material by Ross and the public interest implications of the case remain undetermined. 

The judge highlighted the ongoing debate on whether AI should be allowed to be trained with copyrighted material, underscoring the complexity of emerging AI technologies and copyright law.

Price Action: TRI shares are trading higher by 1.70% at $125.86 premarket on the last check Wednesday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.