Mda's books used in AI training without permission, resulting in an R27.5bn victory

IT HAS been confirmed by renowned South African author Zakes Mda that he is one of several authors who prevailed in a historic class action lawsuit in the US against the artificial intelligence firm Anthropic for using their works to train AI models without permission.

- XOLILE MTEMBU

Regarding the result, Mda stated that he disclosed a few months prior that his and Nadine Gordimer's novels were used to train AI without their consent.

"We did sue and there was a case they call class-action in the USA called Bartz v. Anthropic, which we, fellow writers whose books were used without our permission, won," he said.

A $1.5 billion (R25,745,805,000) settlement was reached as a result of the case, which was brought by a group of writers that included several well-known authors.