I agree with you that there are different interpretations of transformative. This one will play out in the courts. The definition that the copyright courts use

I agree with you that there are different interpretations of transformative. This one will play out in the courts. The definition that the copyright courts use is defined by court cases. In that regard I do believe what the models do is transformative, which exculpates them from copyright violations. Not just because someone had to work hard, I agree I didn’t say that very well. I do think they have a much bigger problem with breach of contract claims for potentially violating a tos. It’s becoming clear that the way they acquired some of the data likely has issues. However, they are super proactive at signing agreements to solve these issues (eg deal with Reddit)