Google vows to protect generative AI users from copyright challenges

Google, at the forefront of technological innovation, is taking a proactive stance to defend users of generative AI from potential copyright claims.

On Thursday, Google announced its commitment to supporting users of generative artificial intelligence systems within its Google Cloud and Workspace platforms in the event of allegations related to intellectual property infringements.

The move aligns Google with other firms, such as Microsoft and Adobe, who have made comparable assurances.

Significant players in the technology industry, including Google, have made substantial investments in generative AI and have been striving to integrate it into their offerings.

Notably, various authors, artists, and copyright holders have initiated legal actions, asserting that both the utilization of their works to train AI systems and the content produced by these systems contravene their rights.

The company spokesperson said, "To our knowledge, Google is the first in the industry to offer a comprehensive, two-pronged approach to indemnity."

Google's latest policy extends to software, encompassing its Vertex AI development platform and the Duet AI system, responsible for generating text and images within Google Workspace and Cloud applications.

Crucially, the press release omitted any mention of Bard, Google's renowned generative AI chatbot program.

Additionally, Google clarified that this indemnity would not be applicable if users deliberately employed generated content to violate the rights of others.

The recent surge in legal actions concerning generative AI systems has typically focused on the companies responsible for these systems, like Google, rather than individual end users.

Defendants in AI-related cases have argued that using web-scraped training data for their systems falls within the boundaries of fair use as defined by U.S. copyright law.