AI Will Continue to Dominate California IP Litigation in 2026

Lawsuits against AI giants OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity are set to continue headlining intellectual property developments in California federal courts in 2026.

In the coming months, we’ll see decisions in two key cases: whether Anthropic PBC’s historic $1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors will receive final approval and if music publishers’ separate copyright lawsuit against the artificial intelligence company will head to trial in September.

Here’s a closer look at the California legal battles that could redefine the landscape of IP law next year.

Anthropic’s $1.5 Billion Settlement

Judge William Alsup’s September preliminary approval of Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement ...