Neuroscientists file class action accusing Apple of training Apple Intelligence on pirated books

Neuroscientists Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik, professors at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, filed a proposed class action against Apple in California federal court on Thursday, alleging the company used illegal "shadow libraries" of pirated books to train Apple Intelligence. The complaint names the professors' books "Champions of Illusion: The Science Behind Mind-Boggling Images and Mystifying Brain Puzzles" and "Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals About Our Everyday Deceptions" as included in the pirated training material, and says the datasets also included other copyright-infringing materials scraped from the internet. The plaintiffs seek unspecified monetary damages and an order barring Apple from further misuse of their copyrighted work. Apple and the plaintiffs' counsel did not immediately respond to requests for comment. All infringement and piracy allegations are at the complaint stage and have not been adjudicated.