Thomson Reuters scored an early victory in an AI-related copyright case against Ross Intelligence.The ruling highlights fair use limits. Fair use is at the center of ongoing AI copyright lawsuits.Legal experts say the case differs from other litigation involving generative AI firms.Content and technology conglomerate Thomson Reuters this week scored the first big win in a USartificial intelligence-related copyright case.A federal judge's Delaware ruling in favor of Thomson Reuters on the legal doctrine of "fair use," however, does not mean that the slew of authors and publishers who have sued generative AI companies like OpenAI for copyright infringement can expect to have the same kind of success, tech law experts told Business Insider.The ruling, though, could have an influence on the outcome of those cases that are currently winding through the courts, one of the tech law experts said.Thomson Reuters sued the now-shuttered legal AI startup Ross Intelligence in 2020, arguing that Ross infringed its copyrights when the startup used content from Thomson Reuters' Westlaw legal research database to create a competing platform that uses artificial intelligence.In his revised ruling Tuesday, US District Court Judge Stephanos Bibas shot down Ross' fair use defense and instead granted a summary judgment for Thomas Reuters on fair use."None of Ross's possible defenses holds water. I reject them all," Bibas wrote in the ruling, in which he explained that in his 2023 opinion in the case, he denied summary judgment on fair use.The question of fair use is at the heart of major ongoing copyright lawsuits against generative AI firms. Companies like OpenAI have pointed to the fair use exemption to copyright laws in order to justify their use of copyrighted material to train AI models.Legal experts told BI that there are key nuances in Thomson Reuters' case against Ross and the blockbuster litigation involving generative AI firms one being that the Thomson Reuters case doesn't have to do with generative AI technology.Bibas made that distinction in his ruling, writing, "Ross was using Thomson Reuters's headnotes as AI data to create a legal research tool to compete with Westlaw. It is undisputed that Ross's AI is not generative AI (AI that writes new content itself). Rather, when a user enters a legal question, Ross spits back relevant judicial opinions that have already been written." Ross's AI was not generative AI, the judge said. Qi Yang/Getty Images Mark Bartholomew, a University at Buffalo law professor, told BI that he does not think the ruling will have a dramatic effect on the other major AI-related copyright cases since it's just one opinion of a lower court and "neglects some of the most important fair use case law.""Still, the plaintiffs in those upcoming cases, like The New York Times, have to be happy with the outcome here," Bartholomew said, adding that those plaintiffs will likely "trumpet this decision in their legal briefs."The New York Times sued OpenAI for copyright infringement in 2023. The New York Times declined to comment for this story. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.One of the other ways that the Thomson Reuters case is different from other ongoing AI-related copyright infringement litigation is that Ross Intelligence was a direct competitor of Thomson Reuters, Bartholomew pointed out."In many of the other copyright AI cases to be decided, the defendant is accused of copying to train the AI for an arguably new purpose that does not directly compete with the original," Bartholomew said. "That may allow this case to be distinguished, allowing the AI platforms to argue they still satisfy the fair use defense regardless of the holding in Thomson."Harry Surden, a professor at the University of Colorado Law School, said that he fears judges overseeing other AI copyright lawsuits may not take into account the differences between the cases.The ruling is "likely to confuse judges and others on the issue of generative AI, but there are significant differences that are very subtle and most people will miss," Surden said, explaining, "It's both a different technology and the company was acting kind of duplicitously here."For those reasons, Surden said the ruling should not have much influence on the ongoing AI copyright cases. He thinks it will anyway."Judges tend not to be experts in copyright law or generative AI, so I think they're likely to miss a lot of these nuances, and I think it will, unfortunately, have an effect on other cases," said Surden.James Gatto, a partner at the law firm Sheppard Mullin who co-leads the firm's AI industry team, told BI it remains to be seen what kind of ripple effect, if any, the ruling in favor of Thomson Reuters will have."Fair use is a fact-specific inquiry unique to each case," said Gatto.Though the judge's decision does not address generative AI, Gatto said it "reinforces the limits of fair use, particularly in cases where copyrighted material is used for non-transformative purposes to develop a competing product.""The court easily determined that Ross's use was commercial, as Ross sought to profit from the copyrighted material without paying the customary price," said Gatto.Meanwhile, Thomson Reuters hailed the legal win, saying in a statement to BI: "We are pleased that the court granted summary judgment in our favor and concluded that Westlaw's editorial content created and maintained by our attorney editors, is protected by copyright and cannot be used without our consent. The copying of our content was not 'fair use.'"Representatives for Ross did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Moneyball enters its AI era

By Passant Rabie Published February 12, 2025 | Comments (0) | Astronomer Vera Rubin photographed in her office at Carnegie Institution of Washington on January 14, 2010. Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via Getty Images Its been less than a month since President Donald Trump declared war on diversity and inclusion at federal agencies. NASA was ordered earlier this month to scrub its sites of anything specifically targeting women (women in leadership, etc.) and now an important telescope project has edited its biography of astronomer Vera Rubin to remove information about increasing the number of women in scientific careers. The Rubin Observatory, a federally funded telescope on a mountaintop in Chile, recently altered the online biography of the astronomer its named after, omitting information related to women breaking barriers in the field, ProPublica first reported. Vera Rubins work helped prove the existence of dark matter in the cosmos, shifting the way scientists study the universe in the 1970s. She published more than 100 scientific papers and carried out groundbreaking research on spiral galaxies and galaxy rotation. Beyond that, she advocated for women in science after having to overcome several obstacles throughout her career due to astronomy being a male-dominated field. For her contributions to science, Rubin has a ridge on Mars named after her, as well as an asteroid, a satellite, a galaxy, and the National Science Foundations Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The national observatory is the first to be named after a woman, and wasironicallysigned off on by Trump during his first term. Shortly after Trump was inaugurated a second time, however, Rubins biography was slashed to offer a watered down version of her struggles as a woman in the field. In the original version, a lengthy section titled She advocated for women in science spoke of Rubins efforts to break through barriers in a male-dominated field. The entire section was initially removed, but then reappeared with some major adjustments, according to ProPublica.Science is still a male-dominated field, but Rubin Observatory is working to increase participation from women and other people who have historically been excluded from science, the observatorys website previously read. Rubin Observatory welcomes everyone who wants to contribute to science, and takes steps to lower or eliminate barriers that exclude those with less privilege. That paragraph, however, was removed in late January, in addition to a slight tweak. Instead of, Vera herself offers an excellent example of what can happen when more minds participate in science, the website now reads, Vera Rubin offers an excellent example of what can happen when many minds participate in science.The revisions reveal what is and isnt allowed under the new orders, and how recognizing discrimination or the need for diversity is now strictly forbidden. NASA is following similar orders; the space agency sent out a memo in late January ordering employees to remove certain terms from its public websites, including underrepresented groups, women in leadership, environmental justice, and accessibility. Several groups from the astronomy community are currently working to maintain an archive of the content thats been removed from federal websites, in addition to content thats at risk of being removed, according to Space.com. The idea that they can somehow obliterate these sources is dead wrongscientists in general and astronomers in particular are not going to take these threats lying down, astronomer John Barentine told Space.com. But we have a long road ahead and I expect therell be times when that road will be very difficult to walk. Once established, Rubin used her position to open doors for women in science and become a mentor for the next generation. While addressing the 1996 Berkeley graduating class, Rubin said, I hope that you will fight injustice and discrimination in all its guises. I hope you will value diversity among your friends, among your colleagues among the student body population. I hope that when you are in charge, you will do better than my generation has.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Thomas Maxwell Published February 12, 2025 By AJ Dellinger Published February 12, 2025 By Matt Novak Published February 12, 2025 By Matt Novak Published February 12, 2025 By Cheryl Eddy Published February 11, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published February 11, 2025

Using a simple and sweeping executive order, President Donald Trump has sought to further empower Elon Musks DOGE to gut the federal government andas both billionaires have put itmake it more efficient. On Tuesday, Trump published yet another EO that sought to enshrine DOGEs authority to lay waste to the federal workforce, while also giving it new powers. Until now, much of Musks efforts to attack the government have been unfolding in a confusing, shock-and-awe style pell-mell of firings, contradictory policies, and dramatic media antics. However, Trumps new order gives more of a structure to the effort. The order instructs agencies across the government to prepare for reductions in force, or RIF (which is basically code for large-scale layoffs), stating that agency heads should work closely with DOGE representatives while the effort to gut the government proceeds. Indeed, the order claims that, as part of a plan to reduce the size of the Federal Governments workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition, agencies should hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart. Additionally, the new hires at those agencies need to be carried out in collaboration with DOGE, as the order states that agency heads must necessarily develop a data-driven plan, in consultation with its DOGE Team Lead, to ensure new career appointment hires are in highest-need areas. That said, the legality of much of what is happening continues to be unclear, and DOGE has suffered an increasing number of legal attacks in recent weeks. On Tuesday, the transparency organization American Oversight sued DOGE over numerous Freedom of Information requests it had filed regarding the agencys activities. Despite Musks claims that the government should be more transparent, the Trump administration reorganized the structure of the existing U.S. Digital Service to create DOGE, in an apparent attempt to evade FOIA, the litigation claims. The suit seeks Musks communications in an effort to shed light on his organizations goals and activities.Its impossible to disentangle DOGEs overall goalwhich is to downsize the agencies tasked with providing public services to Americansand the newly announced budgetary aspirations of the GOP, which appears to be to drastically scale back spending on public services. The intersection between those two mutualistic goals was on full display during the first hearing of the Houses Committee on Oversight and Government Reforms new DOGE subcommittee, which is ostensibly designed to discuss and investigate government waste. The subcommittee is helmed by the notoriously insane MAGA nutcase Marjorie Taylor Greene who, during her opening remarks on Wednesday, called government spending debt slavery and went on an extended rant about how the federal bureaucracy was shackling Americans. Yet contrary to what Republicans have long claimed, a leaner government does not necessarily mean less debt, and the Republican Congress has made it known that theyre less interested in reducing budgetary expenses than they are in giving tax breaks to Americas richest people. Indeed, the new budget that the GOP is currently attempting to pass would add $3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, new estimates show. The way Republicans plan to pay for the renewal of Trumps tax cuts is by making deep cuts to healthcare and anti-poverty programs that help millions of Americans (including many Trump voters) survive.The ongoing Republican talking point about irresponsible spending and the national debt is humorous given the fact that, during his first administration, Trump reportedly added to the debt more than any other U.S. president had at the time. Most of that debt came (again) from Trumps decision to give giant tax breaks to his fellow billionaires. Musks focus on government waste and fraud is also ironic, given the fact that the Trump administration seems to be doing everything in its power to gut the internal watchdog services designed to look out for that sort of thing. Trumps team recently fired a bevy of inspector generals at agencies across the government. IGs are generally tasked with rooting our fraud and abuse at the agencies at which they are stationed. Some of those IGs are now suing the government, in an effort to get their jobs back. The lawsuit calls the administrations firings illegal and, as such, constituted illegal interference with the IGs official duties.

Guapuruvus House / Cornetta ArquiteturaSave this picture! Pedro KokHousesSao Roque , BrazilArchitects: Cornetta ArquiteturaAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:212 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2023 Lead Architect: Pedro Cornetta More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. This summer house serves as an interesting laboratory for ecological practices in architecture, engineering and landscaping. The idea behind this house is to bring adventure to family leisure, allowing close contact with nature, especially for children. The motto was to create a modern cabin in the woods that allows parents to camp with their daughters on the weekends.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The land consists of native forest and more than 70% of its extension has been preserved. For the suppression area, the region with the least vegetation was chosen, in a location that had already received previous intervention. The idea is clearly to conserve as much forest as possible. The adoption of the elevated house, as well as the creation of a service floor embedded in the topography, is based on the analysis of the natural profile of the land. The final implementation solution adopted is the one that will provide the least environmental impact on the surrounding area.Save this picture!Save this picture!The project can be divided into two very distinct stages. The first stage, comprising the entire basement of the house which includes retaining walls, laundry room, storage room, solarium and swimming pool, was designed using traditional techniques in structural block masonry, stone masonry and exposed concrete walls. The second stage, the main house, was designed using prefabrication and assembly systems, such as the use of glued laminated timber (glulam) beams and nailed laminated timber (NLT) slabs. For the external and internal walls, the light steel framing system was adopted.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The landscaping project was very important in this work because, after the implementation of the architectural project, it helped to reconstitute the suppressed native forest in the house surroundings, allowing greater connection between the house and the forest.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officeCornetta ArquiteturaOfficePublished on February 12, 2025Cite: "Guapuruvus House / Cornetta Arquitetura" [Casa Guapuruvus / Cornetta Arquitetura] 12 Feb 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026681/guapuruvus-house-cornetta-arquitetura&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released an audio clip of the moment of the deadly OceanGate Titan implosion. The recording, quietly released last week through the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), is the first of its kind to be publicly released by government officials, and comes over two years after the controversial submersibles five passengers died en route to the Titanics wreckage in the North Atlantic.The sound of the implosion was captured on June 18, 2023 by a moored passive acoustic recorder roughly 900 miles away from the deadly event. The brief clip begins with a few moments of relative silence before a deep, sustained rumbling that nears 400 Hz, according to an accompanying frequency graph.Founded in 2007, OceanGate first began offering private dives to the historic luxury liners remains in 2021. For as much as $250,000-per-seat, tourists could ride inside the companys 22-foot-long submersible on a 2.5-mile journey to the UNESCO underwater cultural heritage site. Titan conducted multiple excursions over the next two years, but often encountered technical issues and communications blackouts with its surface ship crew. Throughout its excursions, multiple international maritime organizations and experts repeatedly voiced concerns about potential design flaws in the submersible, as well as the companys overall operations.Your marketing material advertises that the Titan design will meet or exceed the DNV-GL safety standards, yet it does not appear that OceanGate has the intention of following DNV-GL class rules, reads one such letter from 2018, referring to the internationally recognized maritime industry regulatory organization. Your representation is, at minimum, misleading to the public and breaches an industry-wide professional code of conduct we all endeavor to uphold. Get the Popular Science newsletter By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.On June 18, 2023, Titan radio communications ceased approximately 103 minutes into a dive that included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and four others. Officials announced that remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) had located submersible debris near the Titanic on June 22, capping a frantic international search that ultimately encompassed over 10,000 miles of Atlantic Ocean. Experts later confirmed that Titan suffered a near-instantaneous implosion likely due to a flaw in its hull integrity. At that depth, surrounding water exerts the equivalent of 5,500 pounds per square inch (psi) of force on an object. Such pressure would have caused Titan to implode in less than 20 millisecondsfaster than a human brain could register the event.The US Coast Guards final salvage mission took place in October 2023, and included the retrieval of additional presumed human remains. During the Marine Board of Investigation public hearings in September 2024, experts confirmed the Titan implosion generated an approximately 30,000-square-meter debris field.While recovery efforts collected hundreds of debris fragments, a number of larger portions of wreckage were too heavy to bring to the surface. They currently rest around 1,600 feet from the Titanic.

Nature, Published online: 12 February 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00091-6A study involving 14% of the people in Greenland makes a case for including under-represented groups in population genomics data which could reduce inequalities in genetics-based clinical care and personalized medicine.

Nature, Published online: 12 February 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-04212-5In the nineteenth century, the discovery of the fossil Archaeopteryx revealed how birds evolved from dinosaurs. A bird fossil of similar age to Archaeopteryx shows flight-aiding innovations such as the loss of a long tail.

As Kilauea erupts a 330-foot-tall fountain of lava, officials warn of hazards from volcanic gas that may affect nearby communities.