In today’s Digest, Google agrees to a $1.4bn settlement in Texas over privacy lawsuits, UK creatives urge Prime Minister Starmer to rethink proposed AI copyright reforms, and OpenAI and Microsoft renegotiate terms to pave the way for an initial public offering.

Google Pays $1.4bn in Texas Privacy Lawsuits Settlement

Google has agreed to pay USD$1.4bn (£1.1bn) to the State of Texas to settle two lawsuits alleging the company violated residents’ privacy through unauthorised tracking and biometric data collection. The cases, brought in 2022 by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, accused the tech giant of breaching state laws on deceptive trade practices and data privacy. The suits claimed Google tracked users’ locations and search histories, and harvested facial recognition data without consent.

UK Creatives Urge Starmer to Reconsider AI Copyright Reform

Prominent UK artists and cultural institutions, including Paul McCartney, Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Ian McKellen, and the Royal Shakespeare Company, have signed an open letter urging Prime Minister Keir Starmer to abandon plans that would allow AI developers to use copyright

protected content without permission. The letter argues the proposals designed to support AI innovation pose a serious threat to the UK’s creative economy by undermining copyright protections that artists rely on for their livelihoods. It warns that permitting unrestricted use of creative works by AI companies risks handing a significant commercial advantage to ‘a handful of powerful overseas tech companies’ while weakening the UK’s global standing as a creative leader.

Describing copyright as the ‘lifeblood’ of the creative sector, the signatories caution that the legal change would result in the UK losing a key growth opportunity and compromise the country’s cultural and economic autonomy in the face of rapid technological change.

OpenAI and Microsoft Renegotiate Terms to Pave Way for an Initial Public Offering

OpenAI is in talks with Microsoft to restructure the terms of their multibillion-dollar partnership, aiming to unlock a potential initial public offering (IPO) while preserving the tech giant’s privileged access to its AI models. The negotiations are focused on how much equity Microsoft would hold in a newly structured entity, as OpenAI seeks to distance itself from its non-profit origins.

Microsoft has invested more than USD$13bn (£10.3bn) in OpenAI since 2019 and remains a key player in the AI firm's governance and commercial trajectory. Sources familiar with the matter say the talks also include a renegotiation of the broader 2019 agreement, which currently governs Microsoft’s access to OpenAI’s intellectual property, product roadmap, and revenue sharing.