Short answers, pulled from the story.
Russian mathematician Andrey Markov introduced the concept in 1906. He analyzed vowel and consonant patterns in the novel Eugeny Onegin to model natural language.
OpenAI developed the first generative pre-trained transformer known as GPT-1 in 2018. This development followed the Transformer breakthrough which allowed models to process entire sequences simultaneously.
Getty Images sued Stability AI over the use of its images to train Stable Diffusion. The Authors Guild and The New York Times also sued Microsoft and OpenAI regarding the use of their works to train ChatGPT.
Chinese entities filed over 38,000 generative AI patents between 2014 and 2023. This number surpassed United States patent applications during the same period.
The United States Copyright Office registered the first visual artwork composed entirely of AI-generated materials titled A Single Piece of American Cheese in January 2025. This registration occurred after the office released extensive guidance establishing that users can exert control over selection and placement of creative elements.