Eric Schmidt’s remark about it not mattering if a startup “stole all the content” came during a hypothetical discussion about using a large language model to build a TikTok competitor—not as a specific legal analysis of AI training. In the same discussion, he said he was not arguing that anyone should illegally take music and described Silicon Valley as testing products first and cleaning up the mess later.
What did Eric Schmidt say?
At a Stanford discussion about AI and geopolitics, Schmidt described students using a large language model (LLM) to create a TikTok-like service, attract users and use music. In The Verge’s account, he said: “But if nobody uses your product, it doesn’t matter that you stole all the content.” The Verge reported the remark on August 15, 2024. Fortune also reported the exchange, describing Schmidt’s hypothetical as copying TikTok, taking users and music, and hiring lawyers to “go clean the mess up” if the product succeeded. Fortune’s account appeared on August 15, 2024.
The wording was provocative, but it belonged to a particular example: a hypothetical LLM-assisted social-video competitor. It should not be treated as a standalone statement that all AI companies may take all content.
Did Schmidt say companies should steal copyrighted content?
He later qualified his example. The Verge reported that Schmidt said, “I was not arguing that you should illegally steal everybody’s music.” After interviewer Erik Brynjolfsson noted that Schmidt was on camera, Schmidt replied: “Yeah, that’s right. But you see my point. In other words, Silicon Valley will run these tests and clean up the mess. And that’s typically how those things are done.”
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Those remarks convey an argument about launching products and dealing with problems afterward; they are not a ruling on whether a particular use of content is lawful. Nor do the cited reports establish that Schmidt was making a specific legal argument about how AI models are trained.
How does the remark relate to copyright lawsuits over AI?
Fortune placed the comments against the backdrop of copyright litigation. It reported that The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft in December 2023, alleging infringement and the use of millions of its articles for training. Fortune also reported that eight newspaper publishers sued in April 2024 over alleged use of copyrighted articles without permission or payment.
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These were allegations in lawsuits, not findings that the companies were liable. The cited 2024 reporting does not establish the final outcomes of those cases. The lawsuits provide context for public debate about AI and copyrighted material, but they do not turn Schmidt’s hypothetical TikTok example into a legal conclusion about model training.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the original-video context matters
Fortune and The Verge reported that the Stanford event video was taken down after Schmidt asked for its removal. The available quotations are therefore carried here as reported by those outlets, rather than presented as a transcript independently checked against the full event video. For the exact wording and context, consult their respective reports.
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