MAGA cognoscenti warn feds away from shielding AI infringers

A group of conservatives allied with President Donald Trump's MAGA movement, including former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, has asked the Justice Department and the White House to stop protecting Big Tech against copyright claims.

In a letter [PDF] addressed to US Attorney General Pam Bondi and Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, more than a dozen leaders of conservative organizations urge the government to reject calls to change copyright law to accommodate AI companies.

The signatories argue that supporting the tech industry's effort to reform copyright law would harm American workers, contradict the Trump administration's AI and trade policy, dilute US soft power, and encourage economic espionage by China.

"Opponents of applying copyright law to AI make a series of flawed claims in an effort to cut corners," the letter says. "One is that competition with China requires the US ...