Reporter Sues AI Companies for Using Books Without Permission

An investigative reporter best known for exposing fraud at Silicon Valley blood-testing startup Theranos sued Elon Musk's xAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Meta Platforms, and Perplexity for using copyrighted books without permission to train their artificial intelligence systems. New York Times reporter and "Bad Blood" author John Carreyrou filed the lawsuit, opens new tab in California federal court with five other writers, accusing the AI companies of pirating their books and feeding them into the large language models (LLMs) that power the companies' chatbots.

U.S. Bars Five Prominent Europeans, Accuses Them of Censorship Online

The Trump administration is barring five prominent Europeans from the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced, accusing them of being involved in online censorship of Americans, a claim they have disputed. The action sharply escalated the administration’s fight against European efforts to monitor content on major social media platforms, including Elon Musk’s X as well as Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta.

Google Sues Alleged Chinese Cybercriminals for Phishing

Alphabet Inc.’s Google filed a lawsuit against alleged Chinese cybercriminals, accusing the group of orchestrating a vast phishing campaign designed to dupe Americans into turning over their credit card numbers. The group, which Google refers to as “Darcula,” developed a malicious software kit that enables users with little technical knowledge to automatically send waves of text messages purporting to offer free versions of Google services such as YouTube Premium, according to the complaint.

FCC Bans Drones, Critical Components Made Outside U.S.

The Federal Communications Commission banned all drones and critical components made in a foreign country, and all communications and video-surveillance equipment from major Chinese drone manufacturers SZ DJI Technology and Autel Robotics. The designation means the companies, their subsidiaries and partners won’t be able to import, market or sell new drone equipment in the U.S.

Aflac Blames Social Engineering Tactics for Hacking Attack

Aflac, one of the largest insurance companies in the United States, says hackers stole an unknown quantity of its customers’ personal information from its network during a cyberattack earlier this month. The insurance giant confirmed Friday in a legally required filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the company identified hackers in its system on June 12 and contained the incident.

French Postal Service Blames Cyberattack for Disrupting Services

A suspected cyberattack disrupted services provided by French postal service La Poste, delaying package deliveries and online payment systems during the holiday season. The company said in a statement that a “major network incident” had disrupted its information systems, which included services operated by its online banking arm, La Banque Postale and the laposte.fr website, which displayed a message stating that it was currently unavailable.

Italy Orders Meta to Suspend Contract Terms on AI Chatbots

Italy's antitrust authority ordered Meta Platforms to suspend contractual terms that could shut rival AI chatbots out of WhatsApp, as it investigates the U.S. tech group for suspected abuse of a dominant position. A spokesperson for Meta called the decision "fundamentally flawed," and said the emergence of AI chatbots "put a strain on our systems that they were not designed to support".

Judge Blocks Texas Law Requiring Age Checks for App Store Users

A federal judge blocked Texas from enforcing a new state law that requires companies that run app stores, like Apple and Google, to verify the ages of users — a win for the tech giants and a blow to parents who want more control over the apps their children download. Judge Robert Pitman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction against the law, the App Store Accountability Act, saying it likely violated the First Amendment.

WhatsApp Criticizes Russia's Warnings About Blocking Service

WhatsApp criticized restrictions to its service in Russia, accusing the authorities of trying to deprive more than 100 million Russians of the right to private communications before the holiday season. WhatsApp's statement followed a repeat warning by Russia's communications regulator that it would completely block WhatsApp if it did not comply with its demands to bring its services into line with Russian law.

Texas Attorney General Sues TV Companies Over Data Collection

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for a Senate seat, is suing five major television companies, claiming they use their smart TVs to spy on Texans. According to a press release from Paxton’s office, the five corporations being sued are Sony, Samsung, and LG, as well as China-based companies Hisense and TCL Technology Group Corporation.

Iranian-Linked Hacker Group Leaks Info from Former Israeli Leader

An Iranian-linked hacker group leaked sensitive personal data belonging to a former Israeli prime minister, one of a number of attacks linked to Tehran that have raised concerns about Israel’s cyber defenses. The Handala hacking group said it breached a phone used by Naftali Bennett and published hundreds of his chat messages and a 141-page contact list that included several world leaders.

Trump Signs Executive Order Intended to Limit States' AI Laws

U.S. President Donald Trump on said he will withhold federal broadband funding from states whose laws to regulate artificial intelligence are judged by his administration to be holding back American dominance in the technology. "We want to have one central source of approval," Trump told reporters, flanked by top advisers, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, arguing that 50 different regulatory regimes hamper the growth of the nascent industry.

Russian State Media Regulator Blocks Access to Roblox

Roblox, the California-based platform that allows users to create and share their own games, stopped working for Russian users on Dec. 3. The state media regulator, Roskomnadzor, later confirmed it had restricted access, accusing the company of hosting “extremist materials” and “LGBT propaganda,” and claiming its moderation allowed content that could “negatively affect the spiritual and moral development of children.”

Disney Accuses Google of Copyright Infringement 'On a Massive Scale'

As Disney has gone into business with OpenAI, the Mouse House is accusing Google of copyright infringement on a “massive scale” using AI models and services to “commercially exploit and distribute” infringing images and videos. Attorneys for Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google, demanding that Google stop the alleged infringement in its AI systems.

State Attorneys General Warn Companies About 'Delusional' Chatbots

Microsoft, Meta, Google and Apple were among the 13 companies that received a warning from a bipartisan group of state attorneys general, according to a letter from the state leaders, who said their chatbots' "delusional outputs" could be violating state laws. In it, dozens of attorneys general said the chatbots "encouraged users' delusions," creating mental health risks for kids and adults.

Trump Proposal Would Require Foreign Visitors to Disclose Social Media

Citizens of countries including the U.K. and France will have to disclose five years of their social-media history to visit the U.S., even though they are covered by a visa waiver program, under a proposal by the Trump administration. The proposed requirement would apply to visitors using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, under a visa waiver program that covers 42 countries, including Italy, Japan and Germany.

EU Opens Antitrust Investigation of Google Over AI Practices

The European Union opened an antitrust investigation into Alphabet’s Google, citing concerns about how it uses uploaded content on platforms such as YouTube to power and train its artificial-intelligence tools. The European Commission said that it is looking into whether Google is distorting competition by imposing unfair terms and conditions on publishers or by giving itself privileged access to their content.

Indian Plan Would Require AI Companies to Pay Content Creators

An Indian government panel has proposed requiring AI companies to pay content creators a share of revenue for using their work to train models, a setback for companies such as OpenAI and Google that back free access to publicly available data. The step comes as governments worldwide are fast developing regulations to resolve AI-related copyright disputes, as AI companies say they are making fair use of material generated by content owners.

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The GigaLaw Firm helps companies of all sizes protect their brands online, using domain name dispute policies – such as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) – and other legal tools available to copyright and trademark owners on the Internet.