University of Tennessee Sues Anthropic Over AI Technology

The University of Tennessee has taken the AI company Anthropic to court. The school's research group filed a lawsuit on Monday, July 21, in a federal court in Delaware. It claims that Anthropic broke the law by using the university's patented technology without permission. The technology is related to how computers can learn and think in ways inspired by the human brain.

The lawsuit was filed by a group called the University of Tennessee Research Foundation. This group manages inventions and discoveries made by the university's professors and researchers. The complaint says that Anthropic's AI systems use technology covered by two special patents that belong to the university. A patent is a legal right that gives an inventor control over who can use their idea.

The two patents cover important work in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and something called neuromorphic computing. Neuromorphic computing means building computer systems that work in a way similar to how the human brain works. The university says its professors invented this technology, and Anthropic used it without asking or paying for it.

Anthropic is a well-known AI company based in California and is famous for making a chatbot called Claude. This is believed to be the first time anyone has sued Anthropic for using patented technology. However, the company has faced other legal trouble before. Just this week, a California judge approved a $1.5 billion settlement in a separate lawsuit, where a group of authors said Anthropic used their books without permission to train its AI.

The university said that Anthropic has not been careful about respecting the rights of others when building its products. The school is asking the court to make Anthropic pay money for the harm caused. It is also asking the court to stop Anthropic from continuing to use the patented technology. Representatives from both the university and Anthropic did not respond to questions about the lawsuit right away.