Jack and Elon Declare War on IP Laws
Jack Dorsey, who is now one half of the duo that co-founded Twitter (now X) and Square (which is now Block), lit up an entire weekend with debate on intellectual property, patents, and copyright by the usual sparseness of his words: “delete all IP law.”
To that, X’s current owner, Elon Musk, quickly replied, “I agree.”
It is not clear what triggered these very comments, though they come at a time when AI companies, including OpenAI, which Musk co-founded, competes with, and is challenging in court, face several lawsuits that assert these firms have violated copyright to train their models.
Indeed, tech evangelist and investor Chris Messina alluded to this while writing that Dorsey “has a point,” because, “automated IP fines/3-strike rules for AI infringement may become the substitute for putting poor people in jail for cannabis possessions.”
Less sympathetic, however, were others: “Tech execs declaring all out-war on creators who don’t want their life’s work pillaged for profit,” was how Ed Newton-Rex (whose nonprofit Fairly Trained certifies AI training practices respectful of creators’ rights) described the Dorsey-Musk exchange.
Moreover, the writer Lincoln Michel declared that “nothing of Jack or Elon would exist without IP law,” adding with some sting, “They just hate artists.”
Dorsey expounded on his message in later responses, asserting that there are “much greater models to pay creators,” while claiming “the current ones take way too much from them and only rent-seek.”
He reiterated a similar point when attorney (and former Robert F. Kennedy Jr. running mate) Nicole Shanahan responded with an all caps “NO.”
“IP law is just the thing dividing human creativity from AI creativity,” said Shanahan. “If you want to reform it, let’s talk!”
Dorsey countered, “Creativity is the only thing that currently separates us, and the limitation of the current system, and putting the payments disbursement into the hands of gatekeepers who aren’t paying out fairly.”
Of course, it would be consistent with Musk’s past statements-for example, telling Jay Leno that, “Patents are for the weak.”
In a so-called patent giveaway a decade ago, he pledged that Tesla would not sue other companies which used its patents “in good faith.” (Then the company apologized for a lawsuit it took against an Australian company concerning patents, saying it was a response to a lawsuit filed against Tesla’s subsidiary.)
Dorsey also appears interested in open-source-approaches to social media, notably initiating the project which eventually became Bluesky, but he appears to have become disillusioned and subsequently left Bluesky’s board.” That freed up,” said Bluesky CEO Jay Graber, the company from seeming like a billionaire’s side project.
It’s also fair to draw the line that much thinner between what random people might conversation on Twitter/X rather than make public policy a long time ago: it made Musk a part of the Trump administration and pushed mass lay-offs through his Department of Government Efficiency.
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