Why the University of Tennessee is suing Claude AI creator Anthropic

Why the University of Tennessee is suing Claude AI creator Anthropic

The University of Tennessee's nonprofit research arm is suing Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company it says violated two UT patents related to neural networks inspired by the human brain.

Neural networks, according to IBM, "are among the most influential algorithms in modern machine learning and artificial intelligence." The technology "stacks simple 'neurons' in layers and learns pattern-recognizing weights and biases from data to map inputs to outputs."

The complaint filed by the UT Research Foundation, the university's nonprofit research arm, seeks to protect the professors behind the technology and their contributions to innovations developed and put into practice "years before artificial intelligence systems became widely deployed in commercial products and services."

Anthropic, which operates the popular AI program Claude, recently agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement in a class-action copyright lawsuit brought by authors who alleged their work was used to train AI systems. A California judge approved the settlement July 20.

That same day, UT filed its federal lawsuit against Anthropic in Delaware, where the company is based. Knox News could not immediately reach Anthropic or the UT Research Foundation for comment.

The UT Research Foundation since 1935 has worked to protect, manage, license and enforce intellectual property rights for research and inventions across all five UT campuses, including the flagship campus in Knoxville.

UT's patents, according to the complaint, have contributed to artificial intelligence, machine learning, neuromorphic computing and neuroscience-inspired computing fields through years of research.

"Anthropic’s cavalier approach to others’ intellectual property rights in the development of its products extends beyond the use of copyrighted material," the complaint said.

Other companies such as Apple, Google and Microsoft have cited UT's patents when pursuing their own patents for related technologies.

UT is asking for unspecified monetary damages and for the court to block Anthropic from infringing on its patents. The lawsuit, according to reporting by Reuters, is thought to be the first patent infringement case against Anthropic.

Keenan Thomas is the higher education reporter for Knox News. Email: keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com.

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