Judge Postpones Approval of Anthropic's $1.5 Billion Copyright Settlement

The federal judge overseeing Anthropic PBC’s proposed $1.5 billion copyright settlement is concerned class lawyers are striking a deal behind the scenes that will be forced “down the throat of authors.” Judge William Alsup at the hearing said the motion to approve the deal was denied without prejudice, but in a minute order after the hearing said approval is postponed pending submission of further clarifying information.

In Largest Settlement, Anthropic to Pay $1.5 Billion to Authors, Publishers

In a landmark settlement, Anthropic, a leading artificial intelligence company, has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to a group of authors and publishers after a judge ruled it had illegally downloaded and stored millions of copyrighted books. The settlement is largest payout in the history of U.S. copyright cases. Anthropic will pay $3,000 per work to 500,000 authors.

EU Fines Google $3.5 Billion for Abusing Dominance in Digital Ads

The European Union fined Google nearly $3.5 billion for abusing the dominance of its advertising-technology tools, ramping up the threat on both sides of the Atlantic to one of the company’s bigger businesses. The fine is the EU’s second-largest antitrust penalty ever, after another Google fine in 2018, and risks heightening tensions with the Trump administration in the middle of delicate trade discussions.

Warner Bros. Discovery Sues Midjourney for Copyright Infringement

Warner Bros. Discovery is suing a prominent artificial intelligence image generator for copyright infringement, escalating a high-stakes battle involving the use of movies and TV shows owned by major studios to teach AI systems. The lawsuit says Midjourney “brazenly dispenses Warner Bros. Discovery’s intellectual property” by letting subscribers produce images and videos of iconic copyrighted characters, alleges the complaint, filed in California federal court.

French Regulators Order Google, Shein to Pay Fines for Illegal Cookies

French regulators ordered Alphabet Inc.’s Google to pay nearly $379 million in fines and the Singapore-based online marketplace Shein Group Ltd. to pay $175 million for failing to comply with rules on managing cookies. France’s privacy watchdog, known as CNIL, said the penalties were issued as part of its ongoing effort to crack down on businesses that violate the nation’s rules on tracking user data for advertising purposes — such as depositing cookies that trace users’ behavior without their consent or imposing “cookie walls” that give users no choice but to accept tracers to access a service.

Jury Orders Google to Pay $425 Million for Using Tracking Feature

Google must pay $425 million for breaching users' privacy by collecting data from millions of users who'd switched off a tracking feature in their account, per a federal jury verdict. The San Francisco case was brought by a group of users who alleged in a class-action lawsuit that Google "unlawfully accessed their devices and data, including app activity data on their mobile devices" in "violation" of privacy assurances under the tech giant's Web & App Activity setting.

Celebrity Chatbots from Character.AI Faulted for Teen Interactions

Character.AI became one of the world’s most popular artificial intelligence apps by letting tens of millions of users, many in their teens, text and talk to chatbot versions of celebrities and fictional characters. But those friendly chatbots can easily veer into topics unsafe for minors. AI-generated chatbots using the names and likenesses of actor Timothée Chalamet, singer Chappell Roan and National Football League quarterback Patrick Mahomes chatted inappropriately with teen accounts on topics including sex, self-harm and drugs, two online safety nonprofit organizations found.

Despite Garland's Warning, Judiciary Failed to Protect PACER

Several years ago, then-Attorney General Merrick B. Garland invited a group of federal judges to the Justice Department’s headquarters. Once inside a secure room used for handling classified information, the judges were given a grave warning: The nationwide computer system that held court documents, including sealed records about wiretaps, cooperating witnesses and investigative targets, was vulnerable to hackers.

China's 'Salt Typhoon' Cyberattack Stole Info from Almost All Americans

A sweeping cyberattack by a group known as Salt Typhoon is China’s most ambitious yet, experts and officials have concluded after a year of investigating it. It targeted more than 80 countries and may have stolen information from nearly every American, officials said. They see it as evidence that China’s capabilities rival those of the United States and its allies.

Disney Agrees to Pay $10 Million to Settle Child Privacy Suit Over Videos

The Walt Disney Company said it has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a children's privacy lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission related to videos it uploaded on YouTube mostly during the pandemic. It's the first known case in which a YouTube content provider has settled with the FTC over children's privacy violations since the agency's landmark settlement with YouTube and its parent Google in 2019.

Judge Requires Google to Share Search Results, Doesn't Require Breakup

Google must hand over its search results and some data to rival companies but does not need to break itself up by selling its Chrome web browser, a federal judge ruled. The decision, by Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, falls short of the sweeping changes proposed by the government to rein in the power of Silicon Valley.

House Republicans Open Probe of Bias at Wikipedia

Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee opened a probe into alleged organized efforts to inject bias into Wikipedia entries and the organization’s responses. Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), chair of the panel’s subcommittee on cybersecurity, information technology, and government innovation, sent an information request on the matter to Maryana Iskander, chief executive officer of the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia.

FTC Chair Warns Google Not to Suppress Emails Sent by Republicans

The Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission is warning Google not to filter or suppress emails sent by Republicans over Gmail, according to a letter sent from the FTC chair to Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc. The FTC isn't announcing a new investigation into Google, but FTC chair Andrew Ferguson is putting CEO Sundar Pichai on notice that he is taking allegations from Republicans about suppressing emails seriously.

U.S. Internet Forums Sue Britain's Media Regulator Over Free Speech

U.S. internet forums 4chan and Kiwi Farms have filed a legal case in the United States against Britain's media regulator Ofcom, saying its enforcement of the country's online safety law violated Americans' right to freedom of speech. The suit escalates a clash between tech groups and regulators in Britain and the European Union. The regulators say they are trying to protect users online, while critics, led by U.S. President Donald Trump, accuse them of threatening free speech and targeting U.S. companies.

Chinese-Government Hacking Campaign Said to Hit 200 U.S. Groups

The FBI and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world warned that a Chinese-government hacking campaign that previously penetrated nine U.S. telecommunications companies has expanded into other industries and regions, striking at least 200 American organizations and 80 countries. The joint advisory was issued with the close allies in the Five Eyes English-language intelligence-sharing arrangement and also agencies from Finland, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic, an unusually broad array meant to demonstrate global resolve against what intelligence officials said is a pernicious campaign that exceeds accepted norms for snooping.

Anthropic Blocks Hackers from Using Claude to Write Phishing Emails

Anthropic said it had detected and blocked hackers attempting to misuse its Claude AI system to write phishing emails, create malicious code and circumvent safety filters. The company's findings, published in a report, highlight growing concerns that AI tools are increasingly exploited in cybercrime, intensifying calls for tech firms and regulators to strengthen safeguards as the technology spreads.

DOGE Official Risked Social Security Data on Cloud, Whistleblower Says

A whistleblower says that a former senior DOGE official now at the Social Security Administration copied the Social Security numbers, names and birthdays of over 300 million Americans to a private section of the agency's cloud. That private cloud environment is accessible by other former DOGE employees at the SSA and is lacking adequate security, the whistleblower claims, potentially putting an enormous amount of private information at risk to being revealed and possibly used by identity thieves.

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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.