AI companies want all the data, everywhere, to make their models bigger and better. That means a lot of questions about piracy and copyright, and at least in one case it means Anthropic systematically destroying countless books just to feed them to the model. The Washington Post's Will Oremus joins the show to explain how that worked, why Anthropic, Meta, OpenAI and others are doing it, and what the law has to say. Then, Puck's Julia Alexander helps David figure out whether Netflix is serious about showing movies in theaters, and what theaters need to do to survive in the entertainment business going forward.

Further reading:
<ul>
 <li>From The Washington Post: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/01/27/anthropic-ai-scan-destroy-books/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzY5NDkwMDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzcwODcyMzk5LCJpYXQiOjE3Njk0OTAwMDAsImp0aSI6ImM0OGM3NzA0LWVkM2YtNDg4OS04NTYwLWI3ZTY4Y2Y3ZGMwOCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS90ZWNobm9sb2d5LzIwMjYvMDEvMjcvYW50aHJvcGljLWFpLXNjYW4tZGVzdHJveS1ib29rcy8ifQ.ahCrH8aBSQCgV0Y58Z35IbDrlB7SNGUavbrEfJUEtnw">Anthropic ‘destructively’ scanned millions of books to build Claude</a>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.theverge.com/news/692015/anthropic-wins-a-major-fair-use-victory-for-ai-but-its-still-in-trouble-for-stealing-books">Anthropic wins a major fair use victory for AI — but it’s still in trouble for stealing books</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.theverge.com/news/693437/meta-ai-copyright-win-fair-use-warning">Meta’s AI copyright win comes with a warning about fair use</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.theverge.com/analysis/694657/ai-copyright-rulings-anthropic-meta">Did AI companies win a fight with authors? Technically</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
 <li>From Puck: <a href="https://puck.news/why-netflix-needs-warner-bros/">Why Netflix Needs Warner Bros. </a>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/839480/netflix-warner-bros-acquisition-hbo-theatrical-releases-layoffs">Welcome to the big leagues, Netflix</a></li>
</ul>
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/subscribe">Subscribe to The Verge</a> for unlimited access to <a href="http://theverge.com/">theverge.com</a>, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our <a href="https://www.theverge.com/bulletin/795051/verge-podcast-ad-free-set-up-how-to">ad-free podcast feed</a>.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to <a href="mailto:vergecast@theverge.com">vergecast@theverge.com</a> or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a>

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