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Meta Sued For Allegedly Using Porn To Train AI

• Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
• Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

Adult film producers Strike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media, have launched a major lawsuit against Meta, accusing the tech giant to have illegally downloaded and distributed almost 2,400 copyrighted adult films in order to train its AI models.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

• Strike 3 Holdings claims Meta used BitTorrent to download 170+ copyrighted videos.
• Evidence links downloads to Meta IP addresses and an employee’s home connection.
• Plaintiffs seek $359 million and deletion of infringing AI data.

The California federal court lawsuit – first retrieved by ArsTechnica – states that Meta used the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing system to download pirated content, since at least 2018. The adult sites claim that Meta downloaded the videos while simultaneously sharing them over weeks or months.

This tactic, they allege, helped Meta download other files faster due to BitTorrent’s “tit-for-tat” system, which rewards users who share more popular content.

“Meta specifically targeted Plaintiffs’ content for distribution in order to accelerate its downloads of vast amounts of other content,” the lawsuit says.

Strike 3 argues that Meta’s actions gave it an unfair competitive advantage, because its AI models learned from high-quality porn content, which could result in the creation of similar adult content.

“By training so specifically on Plaintiffs’ Works, Meta’s AI Movie Gen may very well soon produce full length films with Plaintiffs’ identical style and quality,” they said.

The lawsuit also raises concerns that Meta’s piracy may have let minors access adult films without age checks, in violation of new state laws. “Plaintiffs cannot compete against Meta when it ignores federal and state laws and offers Plaintiffs’ works for free,” Strike 3 alleged.

The evidence shows more than 100,000 unauthorized distribution instances linked to Meta’s IP addresses through “stealth” networks, and even from a Meta employee’s personal home network. Meta states “We’re reviewing the complaint, but don’t believe Strike’s claims are accurate,” as reported by ArsTechnica.

TorrentFreak notes that the court could impose penalties of up to $359 million on Meta while requiring the company to remove pirated content from its AI training data.

Image by Vinicius Amano, from Unsplash

AI-Powered Holographic Glasses Bring Lifelike 3D Visuals

• Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
• Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

Researchers have developed a new mixed reality (MR) display system that combines holography and artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver ultra-realistic 3D images in a compact, eyeglass-like device.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

• The display is only 3 millimeters thick, offering a lightweight wearable design.
• AI algorithms improve image quality and 3D realism in the holographic display.
• The device aims to pass a “visual Turing Test” for indistinguishable virtual images.

The researchers of this technology described it in a recent Nature Photonics paper as a significant advancement toward more immersive and comfortable wearable displays for communication, education, training, and entertainment.

Phys.org reports that Stanford University professor Gordon Wetzstein, a lead researcher, said, “In the future, most virtual reality displays will be holographic.” He explains that holography uses both light intensity and phase, enabling displays to project highly realistic three-dimensional images.

“Holography offers capabilities that we can’t get with any other type of display in a package that is much smaller than anything on the market today,” he added.

The new display is just 3 millimeters thick and uses a custom-designed waveguide combined with AI-driven holographic algorithms. This design supports a wide field of view and a large “eye-box,” meaning users can move their eyes or the device slightly without losing image quality.

According to Wetzstein, this “is key to the realism and immersion of the system,” as reported by Phys.org.

Postdoctoral scholar Suyeon Choi, first author on the paper, described the project’s aim: “A visual Turing Test then means, ideally, one cannot distinguish between a physical, real thing as seen through the glasses and a digitally created image being projected on the display surface.”

This prototype is a step toward lightweight, comfortable mixed reality glasses that could transform how people interact with digital content, making virtual images indistinguishable from reality in everyday settings. Wetzstein concluded, “It’s the best 3D display created so far and a great step forward—but there are lots of open challenges yet to solve,” as reported by Phys.org.