Apple Inc. is facing a new class action lawsuit alleging the unauthorized use of copyrighted materials to train its artificial intelligence models. The complaint, filed on October 22, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses the tech giant of employing pirated copies of authors’ works to develop its AI systems.
The plaintiff, author Tasha Alexander, contends that Apple utilized datasets containing pirated books, such as RedPajama, C4, and PILE, to train its “Apple Intelligence” AI product. These datasets reportedly include extensive libraries of copyrighted works obtained without consent, leading to claims of willful copyright infringement. Alexander’s lawsuit seeks class action status, representing a broader group of authors whose works may have been similarly used without authorization.
This legal action follows a series of similar lawsuits against Apple. In September 2025, authors Grady Hendrix and Jennifer Roberson filed a complaint alleging that Apple copied protected works without consent to train its “OpenELM” large language models. The suit accused Apple of using the Books3 dataset of pirated books and employing its proprietary Applebot to scrape the web and other online “shadow libraries.” ([publishersweekly.com](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20250915/98546-apple-sued-by-authors-for-copyright-infringement.html?utm_source=openai))
In October 2025, neuroscientists Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik initiated another lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the company used thousands of copyrighted books, including their own, to train its AI models. They alleged that Apple accessed “shadow libraries” to obtain these works without permission. ([cybernews.com](https://cybernews.com/ai-news/apple-sued-by-neuroscientists-over-using-copyrighted-books-to-train-its-ai-model/?utm_source=openai))
These lawsuits are part of a broader trend of legal challenges confronting technology companies over the use of copyrighted materials in AI development. Notably, AI company Anthropic recently agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement with authors and publishers who accused it of using their books without permission to train its AI chatbot Claude. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/9643064e847a5e88ef6ee8b620b3a44c?utm_source=openai))
As the legal landscape evolves, these cases underscore the ongoing tension between technological innovation and intellectual property rights, highlighting the need for clear guidelines and ethical practices in AI development.