alt Hacker NewsFirst of all, pure AI-generated code is uncopyrightable now. Uncopyrightable code can't be under GPL.
if AI generates something that is equal to existing code, then the license of that code applies. the AI generated product as a whole can't be copyrighted, but the portions that reproduce copyrighted code retain the original copyright.
they can remove the stolen part and replace it with their own code
sure, if they can do that, then they can distribute their code again. but until then they can't.
> if AI generates something that is equal to existing code, then the license of that code applies.
No, it doesn't, if the generation is independent of the existing code. If a person using AI uses existing code and makes a literal copy of it, then, yes, the copyright (and any license offer applicable in the circumstances) of the existing code may apply (it may also not, the same as with copies of portions of code made by other means), and it's less than clear if (especially for small portions of code) that legally such a copy has been made when a work is in the training set.
Copyright protects against copying. It doesn't protect against someone creating the same content by means other than copying.