YouTuber sues NVIDIA for scrapping their videos, training AI models without consent

A YouTube creator has initiated a class action lawsuit against NVIDIA, accusing the tech giant of profiting from his and other creators’ videos without their consent, thereby violating California’s Unfair Competition Law and unjustly enriching itself. The lawsuit comes in the wake of an investigation by 404 Media, which revealed that NVIDIA had been scraping videos from YouTube and other platforms to build its AI systems, all without the permission of the content creators.

The lawsuit, filed by YouTuber David Millette, alleges that NVIDIA’s actions were not only unethical but also illegal. According to Millette, the company developed a new video model using content taken from YouTube without any form of authorisation from the creators. He claims that this has resulted in significant financial gain for NVIDIA, while creators like himself have been left uncompensated.

NVIDIA, however, maintains that it has acted within legal boundaries. In a statement to 404 Media, a company spokesperson emphasised that NVIDIA respects the rights of content creators and believes that its actions are in full compliance with the law. The spokesperson argued that learning from publicly available sources to create new and transformative works is not only legal but encouraged by the legal system.

The complaint against NVIDIA is rooted in documents and conversations that were leaked to 404 Media earlier in the month. These leaks suggest that NVIDIA was involved in a project, internally referred to as “Cosmos,” where employees scraped videos from YouTube and other platforms using virtual machines running on Amazon Web Services to avoid detection. The investigation also uncovered discussions among NVIDIA employees about screen-recording content from Netflix, scraping videos from Vimeo, and even using material from film piracy websites.

When ethical and legal concerns were raised by employees working on the project, they were reportedly dismissed by management, with the decision to proceed being described as an “executive decision.” NVIDIA has responded to these allegations by reiterating its confidence in the legality of its actions, both in terms of copyright law and overall ethical standards.

Interestingly, the lawsuit against NVIDIA does not focus on copyright infringement. Instead, it highlights issues of “unjust enrichment and unfair competition.” Millette argues that NVIDIA has unfairly benefited from the use of his videos, as well as those of other creators, to develop its Cosmos AI program for commercial gain. The complaint states that NVIDIA’s business practices are not only unethical and oppressive but also injurious to consumers, as the company used creators’ videos to train its AI without proper authorisation.

The financial stakes in this case are significant, with Millette claiming that the amount involved exceeds $5 million. Moreover, the lawsuit suggests that there could be more than 100 other creators who might join the class action, amplifying the potential impact on NVIDIA.

This lawsuit comes just two weeks after Millette filed a similar complaint against OpenAI, where he accused the company of transcribing millions of YouTube videos without creators’ consent to train its generative AI software. Both cases highlight the growing concerns among content creators about the use of their work by large tech companies to develop AI models without proper compensation or acknowledgement.

As the case against NVIDIA unfolds, it is likely to draw significant attention, not only because of the financial implications but also due to the broader ethical and legal questions it raises about the use of publicly available content for AI training. The outcome could have far-reaching consequences for both tech companies and content creators, potentially reshaping the landscape of AI development and intellectual property rights.