The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of copyright infringement. The claim suggests that the artificial intelligence technology developed by these companies unlawfully copied millions of articles from The New York Times. Allegedly, this content was used to train AI models such as ChatGPT and other services, providing users with instant access to information that now competes with The New York Times.
This legal action is part of a series of lawsuits aiming to restrict the practice of scraping extensive content from the internet without compensation. Many creators, including actors, writers, and journalists who share their work online, are concerned that AI systems will learn from their material and create competitive chatbots and information sources without proper compensation. The lawsuit reflects broader concerns about the ethical and legal implications of using large language AI models to generate content based on copyrighted material. accusing them of copyright
But the Times’ suit is the first among major news publishers to take on OpenAI and Microsoft, the most recognizable AI brands. Microsoft (MSFT) has a seat on OpenAI’s board and a multi-billion-dollar investment in the company. accusing them of copyright
In a complaint filed Wednesday, the Times said that it has a duty to inform its subscribers, but Microsoft and OpenAI’s “unlawful use of The Times’s work to create artificial intelligence products that compete with it threatens The Times’s ability to provide that service.” The paper noted that OpenAI and Microsoft used other sources in its “widescale copying,” but “they gave Times content particular emphasis” seeking “to free-ride on The Times’s massive investment in its journalism by using it to build substitutive products without permission or payment.”
“We respect the rights of content creators and owners and are committed to working with them to ensure they benefit from AI technology and new revenue models,” OpenAI said in a statement from spokesperson Lindsey Held. “Our ongoing conversations with the New York Times have been productive and moving forward constructively, so we are surprised and disappointed with this development. We’re hopeful that we will find a mutually beneficial way to work together, as we are doing with many other publishers.”