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Sony, Warner Music Sue Anthropic Over AI Training Data

Science7 sourcesAug 31, 2026
FlatRigor 507 sources

Sony Music and Warner Music have filed a lawsuit against AI company Anthropic, alleging the company used copyrighted songs without permission to train its artificial intelligence models. The complaint, filed in California federal court, states that Anthropic engaged in mass copyright infringement. The music companies claim Anthropic has leveraged this alleged infringement to achieve a valuation of $2 trillion. The lawsuit asserts that Anthropic pirated song compositions to train its Claude AI models. This legal action follows a separate class-action settlement involving Sony, where PlayStation customers could receive compensation under a proposed $7.85 million agreement. That earlier lawsuit alleged Sony's decision to stop allowing outside retailers to sell certain digital game vouchers reduced competition and led to higher consumer prices for games purchased through the PlayStation Store. Sony denied wrongdoing in that case, and no federal court had determined the company violated any laws.

What they agree on

  • Sony Music and Warner Music have sued Anthropic.
  • The lawsuit alleges Anthropic used songs to train its AI models.
  • The music companies claim copyright infringement.
  • Anthropic has achieved a $2 trillion valuation.

Where they split

  • Al Jazeera, Reuters, Business Recorder, and Channel News Asia focus on the lawsuit against Anthropic.
  • Newsweek's coverage centers on a separate $7.85 million class-action settlement involving Sony and PlayStation customers.
  • The Verge reports on discounts for Sony's WH-1000XM5 headphones, a separate consumer product story.