LLMs don't read, they are trained. Yes, training involves saving a copy of the training corpus.

The LLM is the output of the training system; the LLM doesn't do the reading, the trainer does. The LLM doesn't "contain" a copy of the book.

But some LLMs seem to be able to quote on demand from a wide range of literature; these models evidently do have some kind of memory, even if it's been distilled and blended and distilled again.

No, I am actually reading OpenAI's PDF linked here, where they say they make a copy of the online corpa to train on, right at the top of page 2:

> By analyzing large corpora (which necessarily involves first making copies of the data to be analyzed

Whether they retain that later is immaterial to whether copyright infringement occurred. Deleting a movie you illegally downloaded after you watch (train on) it doesn't make it legal.

I agree with you. What I'm trying to differentiate is between the way you obtain a book and whether training an LLM on a book that you own the rights to read should be considered copyright infringement.

Unless the license you have for the book includes rights for commercial usage, it should be illegal to train a model that is being used for business, imo. In terms of individuals training models for their own personal use, I think that becomes much more tough to answer, but that's not really cropping up in the legal fights.