> The copyright status of LLM-generated code is of concern to many developers; if LLM-generated code ends up being subject to somebody's copyright claim, accepting it into the kernel could set the project up for a future SCO-lawsuit scenario.
Ain't that anticipatory obedience?
Not inherently.
If their model reproduces enough of an AGPLv3 codebase near verbatim, and it cannot be simply handwaved away as a phonebook situation, then it is a foregone conclusion that they either ingested the codebase directly, or did so through somebody or something that did (which dooms purely synthetic models, like what Phi does).
I imagine a lot of lawyers are salivating over the chance of bankrupting big tech.
The onus is on you to prove that the code was reproduced and is used by the entity you're claiming violated copyright. Otherwise literally all tools capable of reproduction — printing presses, tape recorders, microphones, cameras, etc — would pose existential copyright risks for everyone who owns one. The tool having the capacity for reproduction doesn't mean you can blindly sue everyone who uses it: you have to show they actually violated copyright law. If the code it generated wasn't a reproduction of the code you have the IP rights for, you don't have a case.
TL;DR: you have not discovered an infinite money glitch in the legal system.
Yes, but two fold.
There is no reason why I can't sue every single developer to ever use an LLM and publish and/or distribute that code for AGPLv3 violations. They cannot prove to the court that their model did not use AGPLv3 code, as they did not make the model. I can also, independently, sue the creator of the model, for any model that was made outside of China.
No wonder the model makers don't want to disclose who they pirated content from.