Nvidia says it didn’t use pirated books to train its AI models — company asking for Anna’a Archive suit to be dismissed

Nvidia is pushing back against claims that it trained AI models on pirated books, telling a federal court in California that its alleged contact with the library ‘Anna’s Archive’ doesn’t amount to proof of copyright infringement.

In a motion to dismiss filed January 29, the company argues that the authors behind Nazemian v Nvidia have failed to plausibly show that their specific works were downloaded or used in training, despite expanding their complaint to include new theories and datasets.

The Nazemian case was filed in early 2024 and heard in the Northern District of California before Judge Jon Tigar and concerns allegations that Nvidia’s AI tools and reference models were trained on copyrighted books sourced from so-called shadow libraries, including Anna’s Archive and Books3. The plaintiffs’ amended complaint references internal discussions during which Nvidia employees allegedly sought confirmation regarding access to Anna’s Archive, arguing that this amounts to evidence of unlawful use.

In its motion to dismiss, Nvidia argues that the amended complaint fails to allege even the most basic elements required for a copyright infringement claim. According to the filing, the plaintiffs “do not allege facts showing that Nvidia copied any of their copyrighted works, when any such copying occurred, or which Nvidia models supposedly contain those works.” The company says that without those details, the claims are entirely speculative.