Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter (now X) and Square (now the Block), sparked weekend debate over intellectual property, patents and copyright, in a distinctive concise post that “remove all IP laws.”
Elon Musk, the current owner of X, immediately replied, “I agree.”
It’s not clear exactly what these comments came to, but it comes when AI companies, including Openai (which Musk co-founded, competed and challenged in court) come in a state where they face many lawsuits claiming they violated copyright in order to train their models.
In fact, tech evangelist and investor Chris Messina hinted at this while Dorsey wrote that “there is a point.” Because “the automated IP fine/AI breach rules could potentially replace poor people in jail for marijuana ownership.”
Others were less sympathetic to this argument. Ed Newton Rex (the nonprofit organization has just proven AI training practices respecting creator rights) describes Dorsey Mask exchange as “technology executives declare an all-out war with creators who don’t want to benefit from their life’s work.”
And writer Lincoln Michelle wrote, “No one Jack or Elon’s company would exist without the IP Act,” adding, “they just hate artists.”
Dorsey detailed his stance in the subsequent reply, writing that there is a “big model that pays creators” while claiming that “the current one takes too much from them and only rents.”
He made a similar point when lawyer (and former Robert F. Kennedy Jr., runs his peer) Nicole Shanahan pushed all his hats back with a “no.”
“The IP method is the only thing that separates human creation from AI creation,” Shanahan said. “If you want to reform it, let’s talk!”
“Creativity is what is currently separating us, and the current system limits it, leaving payments in the hands of gatekeepers who are not paying fair,” Dorsey said.
Musk’s response is at least consistent with statements he made in the past. For example, he told Jay Reno, “Patents are for the weak.”
Ten years ago, in the so-called “patent giveaway,” he vowed that Tesla would not enforce patents against other companies that used them “in good faith.” (The company subsequently sued Australian CAP-XX over the patent, saying it was in response to CAP-XX, a lawsuit filed against a Tesla subsidiary.)
And of course, Dorsey launched an open social media project. This eventually became Bluekey, but he became disillusioned and eventually left the Blueki board. (Bluesky CEO Jay Graber recently said Dorsey’s departure “freed” the company from “looking like a billionaire side project.”
It is also worth noting that the line between random conversations on Twitter/X and actual government policies is thinner than before, with Musk joining the Trump administration, pushing massive layoffs through his government efficiency, named after memes and staffed primarily from the world of tech.
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