OpenAI, Microsoft sued by major news outlets for copyright infringement
Leading news outlets, including the New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, and San Jose Mercury News have initiated a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft. The news outlets are owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital. They accuse the tech giants of copyright infringement, for allegedly using their articles for AI training without permission or compensation. Evidence provided includes excerpts from interactions with AI chatbots ChatGPT and Copilot, that reportedly reproduce extensive sections of specific articles upon request.
Accusations of AI chatbots replicating news content
The lawsuit presents screenshots of Copilot replicating entire news articles word-for-word shortly after their online publication. The complainants argue that this was done without providing a clear hyperlink to the original article. They further allege that these chatbots often attribute incorrect facts or fabrications to their publications. "This lawsuit is about how Microsoft and OpenAI are not entitled to use copyrighted newspaper content to build their new trillion-dollar enterprises without paying for that content," the complaint reads.
News outlets demand consent and compensation for AI training
The news organizations insist that any company wishing to use copyrighted material for AI model training, must first secure consent from the publishers and pay a fair price for its use. They cite statements made by executives such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who has acknowledged that AI models cannot be trained without using copyrighted material. The lawsuit also alleges that OpenAI has shown it can circumvent paywalls, and offers GPTs with similar capabilities in its stores.
Previous lawsuits and tech giants' response
This legal action echoes lawsuits filed by other news organizations against OpenAI and Microsoft. The New York Times lodged a complaint in December, alleging verbatim reproduction of its journalism by ChatGPT. Digital news platforms The Intercept, AlterNet, and Raw Story followed suit with their legal proceedings in February. In response to these legal challenges, OpenAI has attempted to have the NYT lawsuit dismissed, while Microsoft has compared AI models to VCRs; tools capable of lawful use and potential copyright infringement.
