Overview

• U.S. District Judge Thomas Hixson rejected Meta's attempt to prevent Zuckerberg's deposition, citing sufficient evidence of his role as the principal decision maker for the company's AI platforms.
• The class action lawsuit, filed last year in California federal court, alleges Meta illegally downloaded digital copies of books to train its AI without consent or compensation.
• Prominent attorney David Boies, known for representing Al Gore in the 2000 election dispute, has joined the case on behalf of the plaintiffs, including Sarah Silverman, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Mike Huckabee.
• Meta argued that Zuckerberg does not have unique knowledge of the company's AI operations, but the judge noted evidence of his specific involvement and direct supervision.
• The lawsuit against Meta is part of a broader series of legal actions targeting other AI developers like Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI for similar copyright infringement claims.