The Department of Justice took the highly unusual step of filing a “statement of interest” in support of OpenAI and Microsoft in the copyright infringement lawsuit brought by the New York Times. (Though they also declare in a footnote, “The United States’ legal arguments apply similarly to all parties in this litigation and the related cases, including book authors and publishers.”) It’s a policy position presented in the language of a legal paper. Their official position, flowing from Dear Leader’s executive order on “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence,” is that the development of LLMs is super-duper transformative, […]
Fewer AI Licenses Drive Wiley to a Soft Quarter
Wiley reported earnings for the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 ended July 31, with sales of $386 million, down 3 percent from $397 million in the same period the previous year. Operating income was $2.9 million compared to $31 million last year. Adjusted EBITDA fell 4 percent to $67.8 million. Income from AI licenses was $14 million. “We delivered the quarter we planned for, and the momentum between Research and AI keeps building: Research is fueling the trusted content that accelerates AI, and AI is driving the productivity that accelerates Research,” president and ceo Matthew Kisner said in a […]
SPCK Group Acquires Eerdmans
UK publisher Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) has acquired Grand Rapids-based Christian publisher William B. Eerdmans Publishing, for undisclosed terms. Eerdmans will remain based in the US. Anita Eerdmans will step down from her role leading the company to become president of a newly-formed nonprofit called Eerdmans Foundation, which will advise and fundraise for Eerdmans Publishing. William Bergkamp will succeed her as president and publisher. The company writes in a release, “The editorial teams in the UK will continue to be led by [Wendy] Grisham, and the editorial teams in the US will continue to be led in the […]
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Obituary: Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem, 92, died on September 2 in her home in Manhattan. A writer, feminist crusader, and one of the founders of Ms. magazine, she was the author of the memoir My Life on the Road. Her memoir An Unexpected Life is forthcoming from Random House on September 22.