Yes, they count, the process of making and continuing to update the underlying LLM is also what drains the lakes, they are all made on pirated info (all the big ones for sure, I’ve not heard of a widely available, usable model trained 100% on legally obtained data, but I suppose it could exist).
Do people who self-host count? Like ollama? It’s not like my PC is going to drain a lake.
To that person, yeah self hosting still counts.
Ethics and morality aside.
Yes, they count, the process of making and continuing to update the underlying LLM is also what drains the lakes, they are all made on pirated info (all the big ones for sure, I’ve not heard of a widely available, usable model trained 100% on legally obtained data, but I suppose it could exist).