APPLE is facing a lawsuit in a Califor
nia federal court from two neurosci
entists who allege the company ille
gally used copyrighted books to train
its Apple Intelligence artificial intelli
gence model.
Susana Martinez-Conde and Ste
phen Macknik, professors at SUNY
Downstate Health Sciences University
in Brooklyn, filed a proposed class-ac
tion complaint on Thursday claiming
Apple relied on “shadow libraries”
filled with pirated books to develop
its AI system.
The lawsuit said Apple used data
sets containing thousands of copy
righted works scraped from the inter
net, including the professors’ own
books, Champions of Illusion: The
Science Behind Mind-Boggling Images
and Mystifying Brain Puzzles and
Sleights of Mind: What the Neurosci
ence of Magic Reveals About Our Eve
ryday Deceptions.
The complaint noted that the al
leged misuse occurred as Apple rolled
out Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI-
powered features built into iPhones,
iPads, and other devices. It added that
“the day after Apple officially intro
duced Apple Intelligence, the compa
ny gained more than $200 billion in
value — the single most lucrative day
in the history of the company.”
The professors are seeking unspeci
fied damages and a court order to pre
vent Apple from using their copyright
ed works in AI training.
The lawsuit follows similar actions
against other tech firms, as authors,
publishers, and music labels challenge
the use of protected material in AI
systems. OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta
have all faced related lawsuits. In Au
gust, Anthropic settled a similar case
by agreeing to pay $1.5 billion to a
group of authors who claimed their
works were used without permission.
PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi
met Qualcomm President and CEO
Cristiano R. Amon on Friday to dis
cuss India’s progress in artificial intel
ligence, innovation, and semiconduc
tor development.
“It was a wonderful meeting with
Mr. Cristiano R. Amon and discussing
India’s strides in AI, innovation and
skilling,” Modi said in a post on X. He
added that Qualcomm’s commitment
to India’s semiconductor and AI mis
sions reflected the country’s “un
matched talent and scale to build
technologies that will shape our col
lective future.”
Amon, who met Modi at the prime
minister’s official residence, said Qual
comm was looking to deepen its col
laboration with India. “Thank you PM
@narendramodi for the great conver
sation on fostering a broader partner
ship between @Qualcomm and India
in support of the IndiaAI and India
Semiconductor Missions, as well as the
transition to 6G,” Amon said on X. He
added that Qualcomm saw “opportuni
ties to develop an Indian ecosystem
across AI smartphones, PCs, smart
glasses, auto, industrial and more.”
Apple faces lawsuit for using pirated books to train AI
Modi meets Qualcomm CEO to boost AI and chip collaboration
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump last week announced
a new 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods and
threatened to cancel his planned meeting with
President Xi Jinping, reigniting a trade confronta
tion between the world’s two largest economies.
The move comes amid a growing dispute over Chi
na’s export restrictions on rare earth minerals.
Trump said the tariffs, along with new export controls
on “any and all critical software,” will take effect from
November 1. He said the measures were a direct re
sponse to what he described as China’s “extraordinarily
aggressive” actions.
“It is impossible to believe that China would have tak
en such an action, but they have, and the rest is history,”
Trump wrote on Truth Social. The announcement trig
gered sharp declines in global markets, with the Nasdaq
falling 3.6 percent and the S&P 500 dropping 2.7 percent.
Chinese goods already face tariffs of 30 percent under
previous measures imposed by Trump, while Beijing’s
retaliatory tariffs stand at 10 percent.
Rising tensions over rare earth exports
Trump first hinted at the move in a lengthy Truth Social
post earlier Friday, claiming China had sent letters to sev
eral countries outlining export controls on rare earth min
erals. These elements are essential for producing smart
phones, electric vehicles, military equipment, and renew
able energy technologies. China currently dominates
global production and processing of these materials.
“There is no way that China should be allowed to hold
the world ‘captive,’” Trump wrote, calling Beijing’s ac
tions “very hostile.”
The president’s latest remarks also cast doubt on his
upcoming meeting with Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea later this
month. It was expected to be the first face-to-face meet
ing between the two leaders since Trump returned to
office in January.
“I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in
South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do
so,” Trump wrote.
Speaking later to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump
clarified that the meeting had not been canceled but said
its status was uncertain. “I haven’t canceled, but I don’t
know that we’re going to have it. But I’m going to be there
regardless, so I would assume we might have it,” he said.
“Lying in wait”
Trump said he did not understand why China had chosen
to act at this point, calling the move “very hostile.” He
said several other countries had reached out to the Unit
ed States expressing concern about China’s new trade
measures.
“Some very strange things are happening in China!
They are becoming very hostile,” Trump said. He ac
cused Beijing of “lying in wait” after six months of rela
tively stable relations, during which both countries had
made progress on the transfer of TikTok’s US operations
under American control, as required by law.
The renewed tensions mark a sharp reversal from re
cent efforts to stabilize trade relations. Earlier this year,
Washington and Beijing agreed to pause tit-for-tat tariffs
that had disrupted global trade. However, the truce has
remained fragile.
Broader trade disputes
The new tariffs also coincide with other trade disputes
between the two nations. On Friday, China announced it
would impose “special port fees” on ships built or operat
ed by American firms, responding to US charges intro
duced in April against Chinese-linked shipping companies.
Meanwhile, the US Federal Communications Commis
sion (FCC) said it had removed millions of listings for
banned Chinese products from online marketplaces.
“The Communist Party of China is engaged in a multi-
prong effort to insert insecure devices into Americans’
homes and businesses,” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr
said on X.
Trump’s comments mark a return to the aggressive
trade stance he took during his first term. Earlier this
week, he said he would press Xi on increasing US soy
bean imports, a key issue for American farmers who were
affected by earlier rounds of tariffs. Trump’s new tariffs
and his threat to pull out of the APEC meeting have re
newed concerns of a prolonged trade conflict. Econo
mists warn that a full-scale escalation could hit global
supply chains and raise costs for US consumers and
manufacturers alike. (With inputs from agencies)
Trump’s 100 per cent China
tariff reignites trade war
US PRESIDENT CALLS BEIJING’S EXPORT RESTRICTIONS “EXTRAORDINARILY AGGRESSIVE”
Business
www.indiaweekly.biz • October, 2025
16
ECONOMIC JOLT: Trump said the
tariffs, along with new export controls
on “any and all critical software,” will
take effect from November 1
ETHICS TEST: The lawsuit
said Apple used datasets
containing thousands of
copyrighted works
scraped from the internet
DIGITAL PUSH: Prime minister Narendra
Modi meets Qualcomm CEO Cristiano R
Amon to discuss India’s progress in
artificial intelligence and innovation
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© Reuters