800 Artists Tell AI 'Stealing Isn't Innovation,' AI Replies 'Hold My Code'
KEY POINTS
- ā¢Around 800 creatives including famous authors, actors, and musicians joined a campaign against AI companies copying their work.
- ā¢The 'Stealing Isnāt Innovation' campaign accuses tech giants and private equity ventures of mass unauthorized use during a fierce GenAI race.
- ā¢This collective outcry highlights the growing conflict between traditional artistry and profit-driven AI content replication.
In a gathering that sounds like the lineup of your hypothetical artsy dream team, roughly 800 creatives including big names like authors George Saunders and Jodi Picoult, actors Cate Blanchett and Scarlett Johansson, plus bands R.E.M., Billy Corgan, and The Roots, united to shout 'Stealing Isn't Innovation' at AI tech overlords. Their beef? These profit-fueled tech giants and private equity-backed ventures allegedly snatched massive amounts of creative content from the internet without permission, fueled by a fierce GenAI arms race. Apparently, when some of the richest companies swipe your art, it stops being 'sharing' and becomes grand-scale theft. Ah, progress in the digital ageāa heist with an āinnovativeā label.
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When billion-dollar AI companies treat centuries of human creativity like free samples, the artists finally say enough with a campaign called 'Stealing Isnāt Innovation.' Because nothing screams innovation like robbing Grandmaās attic without asking.
Turns out the biggest AI skill isnāt making art, but perfecting the ancient human talent of thieveryājust wired with more zeros in the bank account.
800 artists, several billion dollars, and one giant robot heist later, the tech bros discover you canāt just CTRL+C creativity without consequences.
Source: Theverge | Published: 1/22/2026 | Author: Mia Sato
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