"While the risk of a billion-dollar-plus jury verdict is real, it’s important to note that judges routinely slash massive statutory damages awards — sometimes by orders of magnitude. Federal judges, in particular, tend to be skeptical of letting jury awards reach levels that would bankrupt a major company. As a matter of practice (and sometimes doctrine), judges rarely issue rulings that would outright force a company out of business, and are generally sympathetic to arguments about practical business consequences. So while the jury’s damages calculation will be the headline risk, it probably won’t be the last word.
On Thursday, the company filed a motion to stay — a request to essentially pause the case — in which they acknowledged the books covered likely number “in the millions.” Anthropic’s lawyers also wrote, “the specter of unprecedented and potentially business-threatening statutory damages against the smallest one of the many companies developing [large language models] with the same books data” (though it’s worth noting they have an incentive to amplify the stakes in the case to the judge).
The company could settle, but doing so could still cost billions given the scope of potential penalties."
https://www.obsolete.pub/p/anthropic-faces-potentially-business