⚖️ Anthropic's Landmark AI Copyright Win

Also: OpenAI’s first AI device won’t be a wearable

Author

Evolving AI
June 25, 2025

Welcome, AI enthusiasts

A US court just gave the AI industry its first real legal backing on copyright. But the same case could still deal a major blow later this year. Let’s dive in! 

In today’s insights:

  • Court backs Anthropic in major AI copyright case

  • OpenAI’s first AI device with Jony Ive won’t be a wearable

  • LinkedIn flooded with AI hype

Read time: 4 minutes

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Source: Getty Images

Evolving AI: A US judge says Anthropic didn’t break copyright law when it used scanned copies of books it legally bought to train its AI.

Key Points:

  • Judge ruled that training on purchased books counts as fair use.

  • The books were scanned after being bought in print, not downloaded.

  • This decision doesn’t cover pirated books or AI-generated outputs.

Details:

Judge William Alsup ruled that Anthropic’s use of physical books, bought in stores, scanned, and used to train its Claude models, qualifies as fair use under US copyright law. The court said this kind of training is transformative and does not infringe the rights of authors. Authors do not need to give permission if the copies are lawfully acquired and the use is sufficiently different. The ruling strengthens the argument that AI companies can legally train on copyrighted material if they follow the right process.

Why It Matters:

Anthropic still has to face trial in December over its alleged use of more than 7 million pirated books in a central library. If the court finds the company liable, it could face billions in statutory damages, with up to $150,000 possible per work. At the same time, this ruling gives the AI industry something it hasn’t had before: a clear legal signal that using legally purchased books for training can count as fair use. That creates a real precedent. AI companies now have a basic legal roadmap to follow, but the message is clear. If you want to train on copyrighted material, you need to do it by the book. Literally. Anything else might land you in court.

Source: OpenAI

Evolving AI: New court filings give a clearer picture of OpenAI’s secret hardware project with Jony Ive.

Key Points:

  • OpenAI’s $6.5B acquisition of Ive’s io revealed plans for a new AI device.

  • It is not a wearable or an in-ear gadget, according to io’s cofounder.

  • Sam Altman calls it an “AI companion” but no release date has been shared.

Details:

Thanks to a trademark lawsuit between io and a startup called iyO, we now know more about the AI device OpenAI is building with Jony Ive. Tang Tan, io’s cofounder and hardware lead, said in legal documents that the device is not an in-ear or wearable product. That rules out several early guesses, including earbuds and smart glasses. The device has been in development for at least two years, with OpenAI officially acquiring io for $6.5 billion in May. Sam Altman has described it as an “AI companion” that helps users accomplish tasks, but he has said it is not a phone or traditional computer. There are no plans to advertise or sell the product for at least a year, according to the filing.

Why It Matters:

When OpenAI teams up with Jony Ive, the guy who literally shaped how billions of people interact with tech, you don’t expect just another gadget. And now with this court case, we finally have something real to point to. It’s still vague, yeah, but this is probably the most hyped hardware collab in AI right now. People are watching not just because it’s OpenAI, but because if anyone can rethink what AI feels like to use, it’s Ive.

Source: The-decoder

Evolving AI: Job posts mentioning AI are up 6x. People adding AI skills to their profile? Up 20x.

Key Points:

  • LinkedIn CEO says AI job listings have grown sixfold in one year

  • Even bigger shift: 20x more users are tagging themselves with AI skills

  • Generative AI now drives both the feed and job search behind the scenes

Details:

AI is taking over LinkedIn. According to CEO Ryan Roslansky, job postings that mention AI have increased sixfold in the past year. But the bigger change is on the user side. More people are adding AI skills to their profiles, even if they don’t work directly with AI. That number has jumped twentyfold. The platform itself is also changing. LinkedIn now uses generative AI to decide what shows up in your feed. Instead of relying on traditional recommendation systems, it treats each user like a prompt and generates results from there. Job search has shifted too. Instead of filtering by keywords, users can type what they’re looking for in plain language and get suggestions based on that.

Why It Matters:

Look, everyone’s adding “AI” to their profile right now. But behind the buzz, there’s real stuff going on. Companies are already cutting roles and pointing to AI as the reason. A bunch of analysts and experts are saying entry-level office jobs might be the first to go. So yeah, saying you know AI might help you get noticed, but if you actually don’t? That’s going to show fast.

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