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Reddit sues Anthropic over alleged scraping and commercial use of user data

Also: Google plans to get its AI to write your emails for you

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AI KATANA
June 04, 2025

Hello!

Today’s edition captures the evolving legal, ethical, and technological landscape of AI as major players face new challenges and ambitions. Reddit has filed a landmark lawsuit against Anthropic, accusing the startup of scraping over 100,000 pages of content to train its Claude AI without permission—raising broader questions about data rights and transparency in AI training. Meanwhile, Google DeepMind is pushing toward fully automated email management with an AI assistant that mirrors user tone and behavior, aiming to reclaim time lost to inbox overload. At GitHub Galaxy, executives outlined how AI is rapidly transforming enterprise development workflows through tools like Copilot, making software faster and smarter. In a parallel discussion, DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis downplayed AI’s threat to jobs, instead warning of unregulated misuse and advocating for global guardrails. These developments reflect both the promises and tensions as AI integrates deeper into personal and professional life.

Sliced just for you:

  • 🧾 Reddit sues Anthropic over alleged scraping and commercial use of user data

  • 📧 Google plans to get its AI to write your emails for you

  • 💻 AI is powering enterprise development, GitHub says

  • 🌍 Google’s DeepMind CEO says there are bigger risks to worry about than AI taking our jobs

🧾 Reddit sues Anthropic over alleged scraping and commercial use of user data

Reddit has filed a lawsuit against Anthropic, accusing the AI startup of illegally scraping its platform over 100,000 times to train its Claude models without consent, violating its user agreement and bypassing anti-scraping protections. The suit, lodged in California state court, alleges breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and unfair competition, and seeks damages, profit disgorgement, and an injunction against further data use. Reddit underscores its established licensing agreements with companies like OpenAI and Google that include data usage restrictions and privacy safeguards, contrasting this with Anthropic’s alleged refusal to negotiate terms. The complaint also cites prior public statements from Anthropic affirming respect for content usage policies, which Reddit claims were misleading. Notably, the lawsuit references a 2021 research paper from Anthropic highlighting the value of Reddit data for AI training. The legal action follows similar high-profile cases involving The New York Times and Getty Images, and Reddit’s stock surged nearly 67% following the announcement.

Google DeepMind is developing an advanced AI-powered email assistant designed to transform how users manage their inboxes. This tool aims to automatically sort, prioritize, and respond to emails in the user’s own tone and style, drastically reducing time spent on administrative tasks. The vision includes a self-managing inbox where the AI anticipates user preferences by learning from past behaviors—such as which messages are ignored, responded to, or require nuanced replies. Long-term ambitions point to a universal AI assistant capable of acting proactively on behalf of the user, while more immediate applications include smartly written replies like “I’ll take a look and get back to you soon,” or deleting irrelevant emails altogether. The ultimate goal is to return users’ time and attention by lifting the burden of email management, turning a traditionally draining task into a seamless, background operation.

GitHub is highlighting a significant transformation in enterprise software development driven by AI, with agentic models and tools like GitHub Copilot at the forefront. Speaking at the GitHub Galaxy conference, VP Martin Woodward emphasized that teams with advanced devops practices are best positioned to leverage AI for tasks such as bug fixing, code reviews, and dependency upgrades. AI is now embedded across the development pipeline, helping teams ship faster and more intelligently. The shift also points to a broader evolution, with software becoming increasingly cloud-native, user-centric, and infused with AI from the ground up. As agent-based approaches gain traction, GitHub predicts that enterprises embracing these models will drive the next wave of innovation in development.

Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google’s DeepMind and recent Nobel Prize laureate, argues that the real threat from AI isn’t mass unemployment but rather its misuse by malicious actors and lack of global safeguards. While other tech leaders warn of AI eliminating white-collar jobs, Hassabis emphasizes the risks of autonomous systems being exploited for harmful purposes, from deepfake content to national security threats. He advocates for international agreements on AI ethics and secure access to powerful models. Hassabis also envisions a near future where AI-powered personal agents enhance daily life, despite current challenges like bias and hallucinations. Ultimately, he believes AI will transform the workforce by creating new roles and boosting productivity, much like past technological revolutions.

🛠️ AI tools updates

Mistral AI has unveiled Mistral Code, a programming assistant designed to accelerate software development by integrating four of the company’s AI models into a single tool. Available as an extension for widely used code editors, Mistral Code responds to natural language prompts, offering autocomplete suggestions, code search capabilities, and chatbot-style interaction. Built on the open-source Continue framework, the assistant supports account management and usage monitoring for enterprise teams.

Microsoft’s Bing app now lets anyone craft up to ten free five-second clips a day using OpenAI’s high-fidelity Sora model. Videos render in minutes and share straight to social feeds, marking Sora’s first mass-market outing beyond ChatGPT Plus. Expect a flood of AI micro-content—and fresh debates about provenance tagging.

💵 Venture Capital updates

Canadian model maker Cohere is in market to raise more than $500 million at a valuation around $6 billion, according to term-sheet leaks. The capital would fund GPU leases and marketing for its enterprise-focused Aya family and North agent platform as competition with OpenAI and Anthropic heats up

San Francisco-based Sema4.ai closed a $25 million seed-plus round to expand its platform for building and orchestrating autonomous AI agents. The startup will grow its library of pre-built tools and beef up compliance features aimed at finance and healthcare clients.

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