Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, is currently attempting to sidestep being deposed in a copyright case against OpenAI, as detailed in recent court documents. In retaliation, attorneys representing the plaintiff, the Authors Guild, have submitted a motion to compel both Amodei and his Anthropic co-founder, Benjamin Mann, to provide testimony.
According to the Authors Guild’s attorneys, Amodei and Mann, former employees of OpenAI, hold “unique, firsthand knowledge of information highly pertinent to this case.”
The lawsuit, filed in September 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, is backed by the Authors Guild, which is representing prominent authors such as John Grisham, George R.R. Martin, and Sylvia Day. They issued subpoenas to Amodei and Mann in 2024, demanding both testimony and communications from their previous tenure at OpenAI.
Neither the Authors Guild nor the legal representatives for Amodei and Mann provided immediate comments. Anthropic has also remained silent on the matter.
The recently uncovered motion and subpoenas highlight the intensifying nature of copyright lawsuits claiming that OpenAI trained ChatGPT with illicitly obtained materials. The discovery process for the Authors Guild lawsuit, initiated in 2023, is expected to conclude by April. In parallel, OpenAI is reportedly in discussions to secure approximately $40 billion in funding.
In response to the subpoenas, Amodei and Mann initially agreed in June 2024 to partake in lengthy seven-hour depositions. They have compiled a collection of text, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger communications in preparation for the discovery phase.
However, near the end of 2024, the attorneys for the Anthropic co-founders postponed their depositions, aiming to synchronize them with testimony scheduled for another case against OpenAI involving three separate lawsuits filed by comedian Sarah Silverman, author Michael Chabon, and author Paul Tremblay.
It now appears the legal teams for Amodei and Mann are attempting to evade the depositions entirely.
As of January 16, 2025, Amodei’s legal representatives informed the Authors Guild that he “is not available for deposition,” according to an email included in the motion.
Amodei’s legal team—who just two months prior, participated in a five-hour interview with podcaster Lex Fridman—argued that the CEO’s demanding schedule falls into the “apex doctrine.”
Mann has expressed similar reluctance regarding his testimony, stating he prefers to coordinate his deposition with the unified lawsuit while limiting it to four hours. His legal counsel cited personal circumstances, such as caring for two young children and a family member facing a serious health condition. On January 16, Mann’s lawyers communicated to the Authors Guild that he would only agree to be deposed if they conceded not to depose Amodei, as documented in the emails.
Mann has also filed a motion to annul the subpoena and deposition in the combined OpenAI case.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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