Recent court documents that have come to light suggest that Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, may have intentionally used pirated books from Library Genesis to train its artificial intelligence systems. According to these documents, even Mark Zuckerberg approved this controversial practice, raising significant legal and ethical questions.

Library Genesis, or LibGen, is often referred to as a “shadow library,” providing free access to an extensive array of books, articles, and magazines. The revelation that a major tech firm like Meta would turn to pirated resources from this platform highlights the lengths some organizations will go to in order to secure data for their AI initiatives.

While Meta and other leaders in the AI sector defend their actions by claiming they fall under “fair use,” the ongoing litigation involving prominent authors such as Ta-Nehisi Coates and Sarah Silverman will ultimately clarify the validity of this argument. Newly unredacted documents also reveal that some Meta employees were aware of the questionable nature of their actions, with one engineer expressing concern about downloading pirated content on a corporate laptop.

The fact that Mark Zuckerberg was involved in sanctioning the use of these pirated materials further complicates Meta’s position. The plaintiffs argue that this disclosure undermines any potential defense the company might put forth, especially given indications that Meta may have actively contributed to the distribution of these pirated books by seeding their torrents.

This case brings to the forefront the ethical and legal challenges that arise in the tech industry’s quest for data to fuel AI development. It remains uncertain how this controversy will shape the practices of Meta and similar companies moving forward.