(Westlaw) A federal judge has green-lighted authors’ copyright claims against OpenAI, and a university says Google Earth violates its patent rights. Here’s a roundup of recent events in the world of Big Tech.
Artificial intelligence
A class of authors can proceed with direct copyright infringement claims against OpenAI Inc. alleging that outputs from its ChatGPT model are “substantially similar” to their books, Reuters reports. In an Oct. 27 ruling, U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein of the Southern District of New York denied OpenAI’s motion to dismiss the authors’ claims that detailed summaries and outlines for potential sequels produced by ChatGPT are infringing derivative works. In re OpenAI Inc. Copyright Infringement Litigation, No. 25-md-3143, 2025 WL 3003339 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 27, 2025).
A California federal judge dismissed a trademark lawsuit against Perplexity AI Inc. Oct. 27 after the plaintiff’s attorneys withdrew in August and were not replaced, Reuters reports. Software company Perplexity Solved Solutions Inc. received a federal trademark for “Perplexity” in 2022 and had claimed that Perplexity AI’s name would confuse consumers. Perplexity Solved Solutions Inc. v. Perplexity AI Inc., No. 25-cv-989, 2025 WL 3004044 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 27, 2025).
Antitrust
Software giant SAP SE must face an antitrust lawsuit by competitor Celonis SE accusing it of monopolizing a segment of the business software market, Reuters reports. A California federal judge ruled Oct. 27 that Celonis had presented enough information to pursue antitrust, unfair competition and false advertising allegations against SAP, but dismissed a claim that SAP was illegally “tying” the sale of one product to another. Celonis SE et al. v. SAP SE et al., 2025 WL 3013158, No. 25-cv-2519 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 27, 2025).
Intellectual property
Apple Inc. has asked a federal judge in Georgia to dismiss a racketeering lawsuit by Fintiv Inc. alleging that the iPhone maker misappropriated its technology to create the Apple Pay mobile wallet, Reuters reports. Apple argues that Fintiv waited too long to pursue its claims and failed to show a pattern of racketeering. Fintiv Inc. v. Apple Inc., No. 25-4413, motion filed (N.D. Ga. Oct. 27, 2025).
The University of Southern California says in an Oct. 27 federal complaint that Google LLC’s Earth, maps and street view applications violate its patent rights, Reuters reports. USC says Google had known for years about technology one of its professors developed integrating two-dimensional images into three-dimensional models. University of Southern California v. Google LLC, No. 25-cv-1734, complaint filed (W.D. Tex. Oct. 27, 2025).
Social media
The European Commission announced in an Oct. 24 press statement that Meta Platforms Inc. and TikTok have breached their obligation under the EU’s Digital Services Act to grant researchers adequate access to public data. The commission also announced that Meta has breached its obligations to provide users of Facebook and Instagram with simple ways to flag illegal content and challenge content moderation decisions. If the findings are upheld, the tech giants may face fines of up to 6% of global annual turnover.