A hot potato: Meta is embroiled in a ground-breaking AI lawsuit that could change how courts view copyright law. The case seems open-and-shut from the plaintiffs' view. However, if a judge sees otherwise, it could set a monumental precedent allowing corporations to pirate copyrighted material to train AI systems. In January 2024, a group of writers filed a lawsuit in California against Meta for using their works to train various versions of the Llama large language model. Meta openly admitted to using the Book3 dataset, a well-known 37GB compilation of 195,000 copyrighted books used by developers to train LLMs since 2020. The company defends its actions, citing the Fair Use doctrine. Earlier this year, the court unsealed documents Showing that Meta had used torrenting to gather its AI training data.On Monday, the authors filed for a partial summary judgment in a California U.S. District Court, arguing that Meta's alleged use of pirated data leaves no room for legal ambiguity. The plaintiffs claim Meta's use of torrenting to acquire copyrighted books for artificial intelligence training amounts to clear-cut copyright infringement."Whatever the merits of generative artificial intelligence, or GenAI, stealing copyrighted works off the Internet for one's own benefit has always been unlawful," the authors stated in their filing.According to the unsealed documents, Meta initially attempted to download pirated books individually, but this process was too slow and placed excessive strain on its networks. The company then allegedly turned to torrenting an infamous file-sharing method long associated with copyright infringement to acquire terabytes of copyrighted books in bulk far beyond the scope of the Books3 dataset.Ars TechnicaThe authors claim that Meta was fully aware of the legal risks involved and took deliberate action to obscure its activities. The company allegedly ran the torrent client through Amazon Web Services rather than Meta's infrastructure an action that is not standard practice for the social media giant. // Related StoriesThe heavily redacted motion, obtained by Ars Technica, points out that torrent users typically download (leech) and upload (seed) chunks of a file to allow faster downloads. Leeching and seeding are widely considered illegal if the files contain copyrighted material. Furthermore, by seeding a torrent, Meta may have actively facilitated piracy by distributing copyrighted books.The plaintiffs feel that a trial is no longer necessary and seek immediate judgment. The authors contend that the company's actions clearly violate copyright law, falling far outside Meta's fair-use defense. A decision in Meta's favor could set a dangerous precedent going far beyond books, allowing AI developers to infringe on copyrights without compensating the IP owners."[The court] should nevertheless grant summary judgment under the four fair use factors regarding Meta's decision to make available to other P2P pirates millions of copyrighted books in exchange for faster download speed," the motion argues.While it seems like a relatively open-and-shut case, presiding judge Vince Chhabria admitted that he was unfamiliar with torrenting and related terminology like seeding and leeching. For this reason, Judge Chhabria may deny the motion for summary judgment, choosing to hear experts testify and explain the case so that he can make a fair and honest ruling.The final decision in the lawsuit will be ground-breaking no matter which way it goes. If Meta prevails, it opens the door for other AI developers to pirate books, images, or videos to train their models. If the authors win, it sets a precedence for similar cases, including those currently in the judicial system. It could also lead to further copyright reform akin to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

If you follow the hype, it seems like Apple fans are always having their day in the sun. But this week has been great for Google Pixel fans. First of all, there are leaked Google Pixel 10 Pro XL images to gawk at. The phone is already set up to be one of the best Android phones when it gets released, with only the Pixel 10 Pro Fold beating it in the Pixel 10 lineup. However, the other big news for the week is something you can act onnow. The 128GB version of the Google Pixel 9 is $150 cheaper at Best Buy and Amazon right now, bringing it down to $649 from its usual $799. Tap the appropriate button below to snag one for yourself while the deal lasts, or keep reading to see why the Google Pixel 9 is the phone to buy today.The Google Pixel 9 is one of the best Pixel phones yet, and average customers will probably prefer it to the Pro version for its more affordable price. In fact, the Google Pixel 9 has changed our minds about Pixel phones altogether for its fun magic editor features and high usability. As stated in our Google Pixel 9 review, the tactile haptics of this phone make it feel super responsive, while the great hardware of the phone (it has 12GB of RAM, for example) make it actually quite responsive. And the camera is so nice, youll have to check out the Pixel 9 photos we took yourself to believe it.The next thing to consider is the longevity youre going to get out of this phone. It has Seven years of OS, Feature Drops, and security updates promised from its release in late 2024. Thats the 2030s and (with this deal) puts the phones price at under $100 per year if you can keep it running that long. To put this into a lived perspective, my previous gen Pixel 8 Pro is still running quick and snappy like, has an update ready next time I restart my phone, and has withstood multiple falls onto hard flooring. Admittedly, on that last point, getting a case has helped tremendously (get one of the best Pixel 9 cases) but these are sturdy phones nonetheless. The Google Pixel 9 features tough Gorilla Glass Victus and an IP68 protection rating, making it quite tough against liquids and dust.RelatedAs you can see, you really dont need to wait for the leaked Pixel 10 phones to come out to start with a great Pixel. In fact, with the Pixel 9 down to just $649 (a drop of $150 from the usual $799) right now is actually theperfect time to buy a Pixel phone. This deal is available at both Amazon and Best Buy, so go ahead and tap the appropriate button below to get your Pixel 9 while this deal lasts.Editors Recommendations

Verizon has increased the discount price of its 5G Home Plus internet service without actually raising its base price, making the offer less enticing for some new customers looking to switch internet service providers.According to a post on Reddit (via Android Authority), the major cellular carrier reduced the discount price of its 5G Home Plus internet plan from $35 to $25. This means that new customers will have to pay $55 a month if they switch to Verizon. Thats a $10 increase from the $45 monthly rate that pre-existing customers are paying for the Home Plus plan. However, the regular price of Verizons 5G Home Plus remains the same at $80 a month.Recommended VideosThe one thing that makes the new discount price worth it for new customers is that they get a free subscription perk of their choice via Verizon billing, as a couple of commenters have pointed out. This means new customers can choose between Netflix and Max bundle, Apple Music, or the Disney+ bundle. Each subscription service is about a $10 value. The discount change comes one month after Verizon outlined an $8 increase on Mobile Protect plans for customers using four lines or more, meaning they will pay $68 a month for their phone insurance instead of $60. That price change goes into effect on March 27.A $10 increase in discount price of Verizons 5G Home Plus internet service may not seem like much on the surface, especially because of the free subscription perk that comes with it, but in reality it decreases the value of the service. It devalues it even more when the company charges more for it without saying so in the first place.Editors Recommendations

The former CEO of Cadence Design Systems, steps in as the semiconductor manufacturer has lost market share.

In the driver's seat Googles new robot AI can fold delicate origami, close zipper bags without damage Google Gemini Robotics AI model gives robots fine motor skills and adaptability for general world use. Benj Edwards Mar 12, 2025 3:38 pm | 15 Google's new Gemini Robotics AI model will serve as a "robot brain" for Apptronik's Apollo humanoid robot, seen here. Credit: Google Google's new Gemini Robotics AI model will serve as a "robot brain" for Apptronik's Apollo humanoid robot, seen here. Credit: Google Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreOn Wednesday, Google DeepMind announced two new AI models designed to control robots: Gemini Robotics and Gemini Robotics-ER. The company claims these models will help robots of many shapes and sizes understand and interact with the physical world more effectively and delicately than previous systems, paving the way for applications such as humanoid robot assistants.It's worth noting that even though hardware for robot platforms appears to be advancing at a steady pace (well, maybe not always), creating a capable AI model that can pilot these robots autonomously through novel scenarios with safety and precision has proven elusive. What the industry calls "embodied AI" is a moonshot goal of Nvidia, for example, and it remains a holy grail that could potentially turn robotics into general-use laborers in the physical world.Along those lines, Google's new models build upon its Gemini 2.0 large language model foundation, adding capabilities specifically for robotic applications. Gemini Robotics includes what Google calls "vision-language-action" (VLA) abilities, allowing it to process visual information, understand language commands, and generate physical movements. By contrast, Gemini Robotics-ER focuses on "embodied reasoning" with enhanced spatial understanding, letting roboticists connect it to their existing robot control systems.For example, with Gemini Robotics, you can ask a robot to "pick up the banana and put it in the basket," and it will use a camera view of the scene to recognize the banana, guiding a robotic arm to perform the action successfully. Or you might say, "fold an origami fox," and it will use its knowledge of origami and how to fold paper carefully to perform the task. Gemini Robotics: Bringing AI to the physical world. In 2023, we covered Google's RT-2, which represented a notable step toward more generalized robotic capabilities by using Internet data to help robots understand language commands and adapt to new scenarios, then doubling performance on unseen tasks compared to its predecessor. Two years later, Gemini Robotics appears to have made another substantial leap forward, not just in understanding what to do but in executing complex physical manipulations that RT-2 explicitly couldn't handle.While RT-2 was limited to repurposing physical movements it had already practiced, Gemini Robotics reportedly demonstrates significantly enhanced dexterity that enables previously impossible tasks like origami folding and packing snacks into Zip-loc bags. This shift from robots that just understand commands to robots that can perform delicate physical tasks suggests DeepMind may have started solving one of robotics' biggest challenges: getting robots to turn their "knowledge" into careful, precise movements in the real world.Better generalized resultsAccording to DeepMind, the new Gemini Robotics system demonstrates much stronger generalization, or the ability to perform novel tasks that it was not specifically trained to do, compared to its previous AI models. In its announcement, the company claims Gemini Robotics "more than doubles performance on a comprehensive generalization benchmark compared to other state-of-the-art vision-language-action models." Generalization matters because robots that can adapt to new scenarios without specific training for each situation could one day work in unpredictable real-world environments.That's important because skepticism remains regarding how useful humanoid robots currently may be or how capable they really are. Tesla unveiled its Optimus Gen 3 robot last October, claiming the ability to complete many physical tasks, yet concerns persist over the authenticity of its autonomous AI capabilities after the company admitted that several robots in its splashy demo were controlled remotely by humans.Here, Google is attempting to make the real thing: a generalist robot brain. With that goal in mind, the company announced a partnership with Austin, Texas-based Apptronik to"build the next generation of humanoid robots with Gemini 2.0." While trained primarily on a bimanual robot platform called ALOHA 2, Google states that Gemini Robotics can control different robot types, from research-oriented Franka robotic arms to more complex humanoid systems like Apptronik's Apollo robot. Gemini Robotics: Dexterous skills. While the humanoid robot approach is a relatively new application for Google's generative AI models (from this cycle of technology based on LLMs), it's worth noting that Google had previously acquired several robotics companies around 20132014 (including Boston Dynamics, which makes humanoid robots), but later sold them off. The new partnership with Apptronik appears to be a fresh approach to humanoid robotics rather than a direct continuation of those earlier efforts.Other companies have been hard at work on humanoid robotics hardware, such as Figure AI (which secured significant funding for its humanoid robots in March 2024) and the aforementioned former Alphabet subsidiary Boston Dynamics (which introduced a flexible new Atlas robot last April), but a useful AI "driver" to make the robots truly useful has not yet emerged. On that front, Google has also granted limited access to the Gemini Robotics-ER through a "trusted tester" program to companies like Boston Dynamics, Agility Robotics, and Enchanted Tools.Safety and limitationsFor safety considerations, Google mentions a "layered, holistic approach" that maintains traditional robot safety measures like collision avoidance and force limitations. The company describes developing a "Robot Constitution" framework inspired by Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics and releasing a dataset unsurprisingly called "ASIMOV" to help researchers evaluate safety implications of robotic actions.This new ASIMOV dataset represents Google's attempt to create standardized ways to assess robot safety beyond physical harm prevention. The dataset appears designed to help researchers test how well AI models understand the potential consequences of actions a robot might take in various scenarios. According to Google's announcement, the dataset will "help researchers to rigorously measure the safety implications of robotic actions in real-world scenarios."The company did not announce availability timelines or specific commercial applications for the new AI models, which remain in a research phase. While the demo videos Google shared depict advancements in AI-driven capabilities, the controlled research environments still leave open questions about how these systems would actually perform in unpredictable real-world settings.Benj EdwardsSenior AI ReporterBenj EdwardsSenior AI Reporter Benj Edwards is Ars Technica's Senior AI Reporter and founder of the site's dedicated AI beat in 2022. He's also a tech historian with almost two decades of experience. In his free time, he writes and records music, collects vintage computers, and enjoys nature. He lives in Raleigh, NC. 15 Comments

Delays expected FTC cant afford to fight Amazons allegedly deceptive sign-ups after DOGE cuts FTC says credit card charges are capped at $1, amid other budget shortfalls. Ashley Belanger Mar 12, 2025 2:33 pm | 77 Credit: Ceri Breeze | iStock Editorial / Getty Images Plus Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThe Federal Trade Commission is moving to push back a trial set to determine if Amazon tricked customers into signing up for Prime subscriptions.At a Zoom status hearing on Wednesday, the FTC officially asked US District Judge John Chun to delay the trial. According to the FTC's attorney, Jonathan Cohen, the agency needs two months to prepare beyond the September 22 start date, blaming recent "staffing and budgetary shortfalls" stemming from the Trump administrations Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), CNBC reported."We have lost employees in the agency, in our division, and on our case team," Cohen said, explaining that "there is an extremely severe resource shortfall in terms of money and personnel," Bloomberg reported. Cuts are apparently so bad, Cohen told Chun that the FTC is stuck with a $1 cap on any government credit card charges and "may not be able to purchase the transcript from Wednesdays hearing," Bloomberg reported.Further threatening to scramble the agency's trial preparation, the FTC anticipates that downsizing may require a move to another office "unexpectedly," Cohen told Chun.Amazon does not agree that a delay is necessary. The e-commerce giant's attorney, John Hueston, told Chun that "there has been no showing on this call that the government does not have the resources to proceed to trial with the trial date as presently set."What I heard is that theyve got the whole trial team still intact," Hueston argued. "Maybe theres going to be an office move. And by the way, both in government and private sector, Ive never heard of an office move being more than a few days disruptive.At the hearing, Chun appeared confused about how the extra time would benefit the FTC, which he said is "in crisis now, as far as resources" go, without any signs that circumstances "will be different in two months."Seemingly acknowledging that DOGE's work is far from done, Cohen told Chun that he "cannot guarantee if things wont be even worse" at a later date."But theres a lot of reason to believe" the FTC "may have been through the brunt of it, at least for a little while," Cohen said.The largest batch of layoffs so far was in February when DOGE cut more than 62,000 federal workers, affecting roughly 18 agencies, according to Newsweek's tracker. But recently, a notable decline in public support for DOGE and a court order requiring all probationary employees wrongfully terminated to be promptly rehired spurred Trump to start limiting DOGE's authority, NBC News reported.It's in this climate that Cohen seemingly anticipates a potential lull in DOGE meddling allowing the FTC to get back to examining the Amazon case ahead of a major trial that has gone so far as to seek to hold Amazon executives personally liable for creating a supposedly "labyrinthine Prime cancellation process allegedly designed to dupe millions into signing up for the service.Ashley BelangerSenior Policy ReporterAshley BelangerSenior Policy Reporter Ashley is a senior policy reporter for Ars Technica, dedicated to tracking social impacts of emerging policies and new technologies. She is a Chicago-based journalist with 20 years of experience. 77 Comments

The cheekbone and upper jaw of an ancient hominin found in Sima del Elefante, SpainMaria D. Guilln / IPHES-CERCA.A fragmentary bone from a Spanish cave is the oldest human face ever found in western Europe. The bones are part of the cheek and upper jaw, and are between 1.1 million and 1.4 million years old.The bones are substantially different from the next oldest hominin bones from the same area, suggesting two distinct groups of ancient humans lived in western Europe around a million years ago.

Clouds over the ocean are reflecting less sunlight than before, resulting in the planet absorbing more heatDavid Pattyn/NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARYAfter months of frenetic research, scientists are edging closer to understanding why the planet has been so hot since 2023.That year, the average sea surface temperature across the world hit a record high, smashing the previous figure by around 0.25C. It remained at record-breaking levels well into 2024, driving overall global temperatures to new recorded highs.The scale

2025-03-12T20:25:49Z Read in app YouTube star MrBeast is hiring a brand strategist, director of strategic partnerships, and a TikTok specialist. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Prime Video This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Content creators are hiring for a number of jobs on their teams and production staff.The creator economy's growth has increased demand for roles like video editors and scriptwriters.YTJobs saw a 33% rise in job opportunities in Q4, with average pay for video editors up by 18%.Maybe your dream of becoming a YouTube star didn't quite go as planned. Well, you could work for one instead.More YouTube creators and other social media influencers are hiring for the teams and production staff who help them create content and run their businesses.YTJobs CEO Sina Sahami said the company's creator job board saw a 33% year-over-year increase in the number of job opportunities listed in the fourth quarter.The uptick in hiring comes asmore creators boost production quality with recognizable characters and storylines, said Lydia DeCoud, a digital agent at CAA.Business Insider spoke with talent managers, agents, and other professionals on influencer teams who shared some of the most sought-after jobs creators are hiring for. Their responses ranged from roles that require minimal experience, like a personal assistant, to higher-level positions, like a graphics editor.For instance, short-form video creator Alan Chikin Chow last year opened his own production studio in Burbank down the street from Hollywood studios and sound stages. Chow's team recently posted a listing for a full-time job as a behind-the-scenes vlogger to capture moments on set between the team.YouTube's most-subscribed-to creator, Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast to his 371 million subscribers, has dozens of job openings available. His team is hiring for roles ranging from brand strategist and director of strategic partnerships to TikTok specialist.Although most creators don't run operations as large as Donaldson and Chow's, these job openings show what type of talent content creators need.YTJobs analyzed thousands of creator job listings. The most in-demand roles for content creators in Q4 were:Video editor (61% of total job postings)Thumbnail designer (12%)Scriptwriter (12%)The fastest-growing roles year-over-year were:YouTube strategist (120% growth in job postings)Scriptwriter (42% growth)Thumbnail designer (39% growth)Several talent managers, agents, and other creator professionals told BI that creators are most commonly looking for personal and executive assistants to help with tasks like unboxing packages, capturing content, and booking travel. They're also looking for video editors, graphics editors, talent coordinators, and social media managers.Dominick Paielli, cofounder of the influencer talent management firm The Clementine Group, said his firm is looking for editors and plans to offer them for clients to use so that there is a consistent flow of videos uploaded.Some creators are offering higher pay for key rolesSome talent agencies are hiring, too. Dan Weinstein, cofounder and co-CEO of Underscore Talent, said his team recently hired several specialized employees including someone to help manage, advise, and run creator paywall businesses, a staffer to help clients navigate affiliate marketing, and a podcast expert.Five talent managers also said their companies are hiring more influencer managers, ideally those with established client bases.Finding talent with the right experience can be tricky for the average creator, though. Multiple startups have launched to help solve this issue by organizing job listings for creators, such as YTJobs, Creator Economy Jobs, and Roster. These startups act as job boards and recruiting platforms.YTJobs said some creators are offering higher pay as well, based on data from recent job postings. For instance, the average pay for full-time video editor roles increased 18% year-over-year in Q4, while pay for full-time YouTube strategists was up 26%.

2025-03-12T20:15:05Z Read in app Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian. Shutterstock This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Google Cloud restructured its strategy team to "respond faster" to the market.One of the biggest changes has been made to boost sales productivity, per an internal memo.Cloud has become a crucial part of Google's business in the AI race.Google has shaken up its Cloud group yet again, this time consolidating teams in its strategy unit.Staff in Google Cloud's strategy and operations team were told in February that the reorganization would help the company "respond faster to market demands," according to a memo sent by Google Cloud's Go-To-Market COO Greta Krupetsky and seen by Business Insider. She described the new structure as a "network model" in the memo, which will better support Cloud's various sales teams.Google has been streamlining many of its internal teams across the company over the past two years in an effort to move faster. Krupetsky said the latest reorg included consolidating its core Business Services into one team led by Google Cloud managing director Abhi Sharma to "help increase sales productivity." A new central "Deal Management" team has also been created under Google Cloud COO Francis deSouza, who joined the company earlier this year.The unit will include a new "Business Functions - Customer Experience Organization" led by Erez Wohl, managing director at Google Cloud. Wohl's previous strategy and operations functions will now report to Krupetsky."We continue to evolve our business to meet our customers' needs and the significant opportunity ahead. We will continue to invest in areas that are critical to our business and ensure our long-term success," a spokesperson told BI in a statement.The memo mentions a "small number" of roles being cut as part of the reorganization. Those cuts, which BI reported on last month, included some roles being moved to other regions including India and Mexico City, according to an internal employee-crowdsourced document. BI also reviewed several internal job postings for roles within Google Cloud's Go-To-Market Strategy and Operations team based in Mexico City.Google's Cloud group has become a crucial part of the company's efforts to compete in artificial intelligence. Google Cloud sales hit $11.96 billion in the fourth quarter, up 30% from the previous year, though falling short of analyst expectations. Investors are closely watching Google's Cloud business, which is still smaller than those of rivals Amazon and Microsoft.Google previously said it plans to spend $75 billion in capital expenditure this year.Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at hlangley@businessinsider.com or Signal at 628-228-1836. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.