Anthropic’s AI hacking settlement is nearing final approval

The landmark hacking case between the authors and Anthropic over the company’s training for chatbot Claude AI is coming to an end, with nearly 100,000 claims filed.

The plaintiffs in Bartz v. Anthropic filed a motion for final approval of the settlement agreement, saying, “The class has spoken.” It is expected anthropically Paying $1.5 billion in totalAuthors will receive $3,000 for each eligible work. It was a settlement Approved in September 2025.

The lawsuit, which initially focused on copyright infringement, alleges that Anthropic illegally downloaded more than 500,000 copyrighted works from the pirated content websites Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror for training. Claude.

Since the operation was openedapproximately 100,000 claims were filed, and less than 0.5% of class members chose not to participate in the settlement.

Under the settlement agreement, Anthropic acknowledged that it did not use any pirated content in any form released to Claude and promised to destroy all pirated copies of class members’ works.

U.S. District Judge William Alsop initially declined to approve the settlement after becoming concerned that eligible authors in the lawsuit would not have time to join. This led to an extensive outreach program for authors eligible for payment.

The campaign included traditional mail, email campaigns, social media, and other digital outlets, as well as professional and informal networks of authors and publishers. the The official settlement website It also includes a searchable database of eligible businesses and full details, including important documents and dates.

The court is scheduled to hear the final approval request on April 23, and the last day to file the case for class members is March 30.

The final proposal includes a series of statements supporting the agreement from writers’ groups and organizations in what would become the largest copyright push in history. This case is the first of its kind with a major artificial intelligence company to reach a settlement.