Amazon.com (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)-backed Anthropic may face a nationwide class-action lawsuit after a California federal judge ruled that three authors already suing the company can represent writers whose books the AI startup allegedly pirated to train its AI system, Reuters reported Thursday.

The authors can file the class action on behalf of all US writers whose works were allegedly downloaded from "pirate libraries" LibGen and PiLiMi to build a repository, the report added, citing US District Judge William Alsup.

The company may have illegally downloaded up to 7 million books that could expose it to billions of dollars in damages if the authors are successful in the class action lawsuit, the judge reportedly said.

Amazon, Alphabet and Anthropic did not immediately respond to MT Newswires' request for comment.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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