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Summary: Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter (now X) and original founder of the Bluesky project, believes that the US should “delete all IP law,” a statement supported by Elon Musk, current owner of X. More people joined the conversation, including dissenting voices.
Intellectual property seems to be the eternal topic of debate in the artificial intelligence sector. The nature of AI systems requires collecting as much data as possible from the internet, but content creators (such as publishers and artists) want compensation for this. Now, Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk are advocating for deleting the current IP or copyright law to set more permissive conditions.
Copyright and artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence companies operate in a gray area when it comes to copyright. They argue that training AI models falls under the fair use doctrine. This is because, ultimately, these platforms don’t just replicate the original content per se. Fair use allows for copyrighted content if used “transformatively.” In other words, the output must be something new and not a simple carbon copy of the source material.
On the other hand, content creators claim that there is no fair use and that current copyright laws should apply. There is still no clear legislation on the matter, with artists hoping for a resounding victory in court that could serve as a precedent for future lawsuits against AI companies. However, that has not yet happened.
“Delete all IP law,” says Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk supports
Amid this situation, the controversial figure of Jack Dorsey emerges. Dorsey was a co-founder of Twitter and started the Bluesky project. However, he left the board of directors of the latter, disliking the direction it was taking. In a recent post on X/Twitter, he stated, “Delete all IP law,” to which Elon Musk, current owner of X, responded, “I agree.”
Some prominent figures in the tech industry have made similar suggestions in the recent past. Until now, the idea has come primarily from the artificial intelligence industry. In March, OpenAI proposed to the US government a deregulation that would allow AI companies to freely use content available on the internet to train their models.
Elon Musk has also been vocal in the past about his stance on copyright. He once told Jay Leno that “patents are for the weak.” He also gave the example of one of his companies, Tesla. Musk allowed competitors to freely use his electric car patents “in good faith.” Meanwhile, Dorsey has supported open-source initiatives for decentralized social platforms.
More industry figures joined the conversation, such as tech investor Chris Messina, who said that Dorsey “has a point,” because “Automated IP fines/3-strike rules for AI infringement may become the substitute for putting poor people in jail for cannabis possession.”
Returning to Dorsey, he added that there are “much greater models to pay creators” and that “the current ones take way too much from them and only rent-seek.”
Some voices against
There were also voices against this position. Attorney Nicole Shanahan first responded “NO,” adding that the “IP law is the only thing separating human creations from AI creations.” To this, Dorsey responded, “creativity is what currently separates us, and the current system is limiting that, and putting the payments disbursement into the hands of gatekeepers who aren’t paying out fairly.”
Ed Newton-Rex of the NGO Fairly Trained said, “Tech execs declaring all-out war on creators who don’t want their life’s work pillaged for profit.” Writer Lincoln Michel stated, “none of Jack or Elon’s companies would exist without IP law.” “They just hate artists,” he added.