What Anthropic's copyright settlement means

A federal judge has approved a class action settlement between Anthropic and authors whose books were used to train the company's large language models. The total price tag: $1.5 billion. After attorney's fees and other costs, each author gets about $3,000. It's the first major settlement of its kind, but dozens of similar lawsuits against AI companies are still pending, and the core legal questions about copyright and training data remain unresolved.

The trucking cost squeeze on small businesses

The cost of moving goods around the country is driving up prices in ways that go beyond headline oil prices. Diesel is at $5.14 a gallon, and trucking rates were up almost 30% last year over the same period. Small businesses are feeling this directly. Randy George, who runs Red Hen Baking Company in Middlesex, Vermont, says fuel surcharges are affecting the cost of butter, nuts, olives, and flour. A trailer truck can hold 26 tons of flour, and George buys it by the truckload. Kyle LaFond, founder of Natural Contract Manufacturing in Madison, Wisconsin, which makes deodorant and skin creams, says his company is developing a plan to pass those costs to clients through its own fuel surcharge. But not every business is reacting that way. Pat Wayland, president of Zahati Fine Foods in Brooklyn, says his trucking costs are up 10 to 12 perce