MAROKO133 Update ai: Disney issues cease-and-desist to Google over AI use of its character

📌 MAROKO133 Update ai: Disney issues cease-and-desist to Google over AI use of its

Disney has escalated its fight over AI training data.

The company sent Google a cease-and-desist letter on Wednesday, accusing the tech giant of copying its copyrighted material “on a massive scale” to build and deploy AI systems.

The letter, reviewed by Variety, arrived shortly after Disney partnered with OpenAI for select content initiatives.

Attorneys from Jenner & Block alleged that Google copied large volumes of Disney’s works without permission.

They said Google then used that material to train and run its AI models, which create and distribute images of Disney characters.

“Google is infringing Disney’s copyrights on a massive scale, by copying a large corpus of Disney’s copyrighted works without authorization to train and develop generative artificial intelligence (‘AI’) models and services,” the letter states.

The filing continues by accusing Google of using the outputs “to commercially exploit and distribute copies of its protected works.”

Disney argued that Google’s systems function like a digital replication engine.

“Google operates as a virtual vending machine, capable of reproducing, rendering, and distributing copies of Disney’s valuable library,” the letter says.

Attorneys added that some generated images appeared with a Gemini logo, which “falsely impl[ies] that Google’s exploitation of Disney’s intellectual property is authorized and endorsed by Disney.”

The company included examples from films such as Frozen, The Lion King, Moana, Toy Story, Inside Out, and Ratatouille, as well as franchises such as Marvel, Star Wars, The Simpsons, and Pixar.

Disney said many of these images came from prompts typed into Google’s consumer AI apps.

Disney escalates pressure

The move follows earlier cease-and-desist letters Disney sent to Meta and Character.AI.

The studio also joined NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery in filing lawsuits against Midjourney and Minimax over similar claims.

Disney leaders said they raised concerns with Google for months.

They argued that Google failed to act and allowed the scale of infringement to grow. CEO Bob Iger reinforced that stance in an interview with CNBC.

“We’ve been aggressive at protecting our IP,” he said. He noted that Disney had discussed the issue with Google, but “because we didn’t really make any progress… we felt we had no choice but to send them a cease-and-desist.”

Google responded by highlighting its history with Disney.

A spokesperson said, “We have a longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship with Disney, and will continue to engage with them.”

The company defended its training approach, saying it uses “public data from the open web” and cited tools that give copyright holders more control.

Demands to halt AI outputs

Disney’s letter demands immediate changes.

The company told Google to stop generating and distributing any AI outputs that include Disney characters across Gemini products and platforms, including YouTube, YouTube Shorts, and Google’s mobile apps.

Disney also insisted that Google install “effective technological measures” to prevent future infringement.

The letter warned that the company “will not tolerate the unauthorized commercial exploitation of its copyrighted characters and works by so-called AI services.”

Disney further accused Google of encouraging viral AI trends.

It cited a post by CEO Sundar Pichai promoting “figurine” image creation.

According to Disney, Google even supplied a Gemini prompt that users could adapt to generate figurines of Disney characters.

The conflict now intensifies a broader industry fight over how AI models source and use copyrighted content.

🔗 Sumber: interestingengineering.com

📌 MAROKO133 Breaking ai: Please Enjoy Laughing at the Prediction Markets, in Full

Just as many had predicted, Time magazine once again took some liberties with its annual “Person of the Year” issue.

Besides blocking users from reading its website with an AI chatbot, the magazine anointed the “architects of AI” as its most important visionaries of 2025, eschewing the definition of “person” yet again.

The eyeroll-inducing announcement was met with plenty of incredulity, especially considering the astronomical amount of money being spent on building out data centers, their enormous carbon footprint, and a whole litany of other ethical conundrums that the embrace of generative AI has spawned.

One online group was particularly irked by Time‘s announcement. As author Parker Molloy pointed out on Bluesky, those who bet on who would be named “Person of the Year” on prediction markets were absolutely furious — perfectly illustrating the risks of throwing money at unregulated gambling websites.

“Someone please explain to me how this is not a trick?” one user complained after betting on billionaire Elon Musk on Kalshi. “Person of the year is a singular title…”

“This is actually so freaking stupid,” another user seethed.

Other users who had bet on “AI” argued that Kalshi owed them money.

“This pretty clearly should’ve resolved to yes,” one user wrote. “If you bought AI, reach out to Kalshi support because ‘AI’ is literally on the cover and in the title ‘Architects of AI.’”

Many argued it was stupid to bet on “AI,” given the purpose of Time‘s annual issue.

“Stop complaining AI didn’t win,” one user wrote. “AI was never going to win because of the technicality that Time would never state AI as ‘person of the year’ and would rather be ‘technology’ or some variant.”

The bet turned out to be a major driver, generating just shy of $20 million worth of bets since early November 2024. The clear frontrunner for most of the year was Musk, who was overtaken by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang following his pro-AI rallying cry during a keynote in Washington, DC.

“AI,” meanwhile, steadily rose in trading since May.

“If AI is Time Person of the Year for 2025, then the market resolves to Yes,” reads the rules summary. “If there is no Person of the Year (and instead many variations thereof, e.g. Entertainer of the Year, Hero of the Year), that is not encompassed in the Payout Criterion. If multiple persons win, all persons that are listed are encompassed within the Payout Criterion.”

A similar bet on Polymarket saw most money going towards NBA legend LeBron James and president Donald Trump. The comments section also turned into a flame war, with unhappy users accusing the site of a “rug pull.”

“Such a scam,” one Polymarket user complained. “If i would of known a new option would of been added that says effectively AI or EVERYONE ELSE I would of chosen that.”

Perhaps users on prediction market websites should’ve known better. Time magazine has a long history of making controversial choices for its splashy annual cover. Besides picking infamous leaders like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin in 1938 and 1939, respectively, the publication has also taken plenty of liberties in the past, stretching the definition of “person” to an extreme degree.

In 1960, for instance, it chose “US scientists,” which is arguably an even vaguer descriptor than the “architects of AI.” In 2006, it chose “you,” an infuriating and borderline nonsensical pick that was meant to recognize people who created user-generated content on then-ascendant social platforms like MySpace and YouTube.

Meanwhile, users on social media gleefully watched as prediction market users were having a meltdown.

“I can’t believe an unregulated gambling market let people bet frivolously and then took all their money,” one Bluesky user wrote.

More on Time‘s Person of the Year: Time Magazine Deploys AI “Ask Me Anything” Box That Covers Up Its Actual Journalism and Can’t Be Closed

The post Please Enjoy Laughing at the Prediction Markets, in Full Meltdown, After Time’s “Person of the Year” Reveal appeared first on Futurism.

🔗 Sumber: futurism.com