AI giants will never pay for plundering Britain's creative talent, Labour aide says
An adviser to the Technology Secretary asserts that publishers and artists won’t be compensated for AI training; the remarks surface amid a broader debate over copyright and innovation.
An aide to the Technology Secretary has said artificial intelligence giants will never have to pay publishers and artists for using their work to train their systems, according to Claire Ellicott of The Daily Mail. Kirsty Innes, described as an adviser to Liz Kendall, told the paper that big tech firms will not have to compensate creatives under current practice. The remark is likely to alarm musicians, artists and writers who have argued for a fairer deal as AI tools rely on large datasets of copyrighted material. The Daily Mail has been campaigning to protect Britain's creative industries from the perceived threat of AI and from government plans that critics say could allow a neglect of copyright rules.
Innes’ February social media posts, later deleted, included a line quoted by media outlets: "Whether or not you philosophically believe the big AI firms should compensate content creators, they in practice will never legally have to." The Guardian reported that the posts, which predated her appointment as a ministerial adviser seven months earlier, suggested that content creators would be left with an opt-out rather than an automatic pay scheme. The paper noted that Innes previously worked at the Tony Blair Institute think tank, and that the Institute has received donations from Larry Ellison, the Oracle founder, which last year reached about $270 million. Oracle is a backer of the Stargate project to build AI infrastructure with OpenAI and SoftBank.
Innes and Liz Kendall have not commented on the reports. The Daily Mail’s coverage underscores the ongoing policy debate in Britain over how copyright rules should apply to AI training and whether creators should be compensated when their work is used to improve artificial intelligence models. The discussion sits against a backdrop of scrutiny of technology investment and influence, including funding linked to major tech interests and partnerships that aim to expand AI infrastructure and capabilities worldwide.