US appeals court upholds Thomson Reuters' landmark win in AI training lawsuit

On Tuesday, a US appeals court ruled in favor of information services company Thomson Reuters in a copyright dispute over AI training. The Philadelphia-based 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Ross Intelligence's argument that its search engine made fair use of material from Thomson Reuters' Westlaw platform. This is the first such ruling by a US appeals court in a series of high-stakes copyright cases concerning AI training.

Ross Intelligence's platform was accused of copying Thomson Reuters' Westlaw headnotes, which summarize points of law in court opinions, to train its competing AI-based legal search engine. According to Thomson Reuters, Ross unlawfully used thousands of headnotes to create its AI tool, which aimed to identify relevant court opinions in response to user queries.

Although Ross shut down its platform in 2021, citing the financial burden of the litigation, the company's appeal highlights the ongoing debate over the fair use of copyrighted material in AI training. The appeals court's decision, currently sealed, has the potential to set a precedent for future legal disputes involving AI and copyright infringement.

Ross Intelligence's spokesperson declined to provide further comment, while Thomson Reuters expressed satisfaction with the ruling and reaffirmed its commitment to protecting intellectual property rights in the pursuit of innovation.