A group of publishers and authors has taken Google to court, accusing the tech giant of using their copyrighted works to train its Gemini platform without permission. The suit claims that Google removed or altered copyright information to ‘conceal’ this practice, despite having a history with these companies through programs like Google Books.

Two earlier court decisions in California have ruled in favour of AI companies regarding the use of copyrighted materials for training, deeming it fair under outdated U.S. copyright laws. However, Anthropic was fined $1.5 billion for pirating works, marking a significant event in U.S. copyright law.

The plaintiffs argue that Google has trained Gemini on books from search results and those uploaded to the Google Play store without authorization. An internal document allegedly warns of ‘highly problematic’ consequences if such practices continue.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment, leaving many questions about how this case will play out in court.