A federal jury trial is currently underway in Boston, where Google is facing accusations of patent infringement over its use of processors to power artificial intelligence (AI) technology in its key products. The plaintiff, Massachusetts-based computer scientist Joseph Bates, founded Singular Computing and claims that Google copied his technology to support AI features in Google Search, Gmail, Google Translate, and other services.
Singular Computing is seeking up to $7 billion in monetary damages, which would be the largest-ever patent infringement award in the history of the United States. However, a Google spokesperson referred to Singular’s patents as “dubious” and stated that Google independently developed its own processors over many years. The company looks forward to presenting its case in court and dispelling any claims of wrongdoing.
According to Singular’s 2019 complaint, Bates shared his computer-processing innovations with Google between 2010 and 2014. The lawsuit alleges that Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), which enhance the company’s AI capabilities, infringe upon Bates’ patented technology. Singular further asserts that Google’s circuits utilize an improved architecture discovered by Bates, revolutionizing the way AI training and inference are accomplished.
Google introduced its processing units in 2016, specifically designed to power AI applications such as speech recognition, content generation, and ad recommendation. Singular claims that the second and third versions of these units, introduced in 2017 and 2018, violate its patent rights.
Google has maintained that its processors operate differently from Singular’s patented technology, and it asserts that the patents are invalid. The company argued in a court filing that its engineers had reservations about the technology and ultimately rejected it, stating that it was not suitable for the applications Google was developing.
In addition to the ongoing trial, a U.S. appeals court in Washington will also hear arguments regarding the potential invalidation of Singular’s patents in a separate case. Google has appealed from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in an effort to challenge the validity of the patents.
As the trial progresses, it remains to be seen how the jury will weigh the evidence and determine the outcome of this highly contested patent infringement case.
The source of the article is from the blog publicsectortravel.org.uk