Sen. Josh Hawley Addresses Meta’s Alleged Copyright Violations
During a hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) accused Meta of “deliberately” using copyrighted material to develop its artificial intelligence models.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee gathered to discuss the “large scale intake of copyrighted works for AI training” in the AI sector. The session included testimonies from well-known authors like David Baldacci, AI specialists, and legal academics.
Hawley commented on Meta’s alleged copyright infringement, stating:
They were fully aware of their actions. They knowingly used pirated content, despite multiple warnings from employees about the legality of their practices. One employee even pointed out the serious implications of illegal downloads in the U.S. Another raised concerns about the risks associated with accessing illegal repositories.
“It’s a clear violation of copyright law. Did Meta heed the warnings? No,” Hawley asserted.
He also claimed that the hearing revealed evidence that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally decided to engage in these illicit activities, attempting to conceal them from oversight.
Baldacci shared a personal account, noting, “I felt like my entire career was stripped away from me in just a few seconds.”
Hawley added that the company allegedly resorted to using unauthorized servers to facilitate their actions. “After acquiring this data, Meta trained its AI models and misled users about the nature of the data used,” he elaborated.
The Missouri Attorney General characterized these practices as detrimental to business, labeling them a “criminal act.” He stated, “Meta’s actions are no exception when considering the behavior of major companies in the AI field.”
According to Hawley’s office, the AI company reportedly utilized 200 terabytes of copyrighted material.
David Sachs, the White House AI Czar, remarked in June, “Training data or models must consider fair use. If we ignore this, the U.S. risks falling behind in the AI race.”
