The New York Times Files Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Microsoft

The New York Times has taken legal action against OpenAI and Microsoft, filing a federal lawsuit to stop the use of its stories for training chatbots. The newspaper claims that the copyright infringements alone could be worth billions of dollars. This move follows a growing trend of individuals and publishers attempting to prevent OpenAI from utilizing copyrighted material.

The lawsuit, filed in a Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, accuses OpenAI and Microsoft of unlawfully using The New York Times’ work to create AI products that directly compete with the newspaper. The Times argues that this practice threatens its ability to provide its own services. Both OpenAI and Microsoft have yet to respond to the lawsuit.

Media organizations have been facing challenges due to the shift of readers to online platforms. While many publications have established a digital presence, the rise of artificial intelligence technology poses a threat to various industries, including the media sector.

Artificial intelligence companies rely on scraping information available online, including articles from media organizations, to train generative AI chatbots. These companies have attracted significant investments, with Microsoft being OpenAI’s largest backer, having invested billions of dollars since their partnership began in 2019.

OpenAI has faced multiple lawsuits for copyright infringement, including claims from writers such as comedian Sarah Silverman, who allege that their books were used without permission to train OpenAI’s AI models. In June, over 4,000 writers signed a letter accusing AI developers, including OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Meta, of exploitative practices that mimic their language, style, and ideas.

The lawsuit filed by The New York Times highlights how OpenAI’s and Microsoft’s generative AI tools closely summarize and even recite content from the newspaper, including Pulitzer Prize-winning investigations. The Times seeks unspecified damages, aiming to hold the companies accountable for the unlawful copying and use of its valuable works. Additionally, the newspaper calls for the destruction of GPT and other language models or training sets that incorporate its content.

The complaint argues that Microsoft and OpenAI are taking advantage of The Times’ extensive investments in journalism without payment or permission. In July, OpenAI reached an agreement with The Associated Press to license its archive of news stories, but The New York Times states that it has never given permission for its content to be used for generative AI purposes.

The lawsuit comes after failed negotiations between the newspaper and the two companies. The Times had raised concerns about the use of its intellectual property and attempted to reach a resolution that would ensure fair value for its content while supporting a well-informed public. However, these negotiations did not lead to a satisfactory outcome, prompting the legal action.