To access their resources for developing conceptual AI models capable of generating authentic content, Apple has initiated discussions with several renowned publishers. Reports indicate that Apple is investing approximately $50 million in licensing such content from major international media organizations like NBC News, Conde Nast, and IAC.
This move is expected to significantly bolster Apple’s position in the AI landscape, enabling the company to narrow the gap with industry leaders. The agreements are poised to assist Apple in adhering to relevant regulations more effectively compared to its competitors, as the company has implemented more robust protective measures.
The response to Apple’s proposals has generally been positive thus far, with concerns primarily focused on the broad terms of the agreements, particularly concerning access to published article archives. Given the history of AI companies facing accusations of unauthorized data extraction from the web, leading to legal disputes over intellectual property rights, Apple’s approach is predicted to yield favorable outcomes in the long run.
Legal Action: The New York Times Sues Microsoft and OpenAI
The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft concerning alleged unauthorized use of copyrighted articles for AI training and development purposes. The lawsuit contends that these tech giants have utilized a substantial number of articles from the publication, which are then incorporated into AI models competing with The New York Times’ services.
After prolonged negotiations that ultimately proved unsuccessful, the lawsuit was initiated, revealing the extraction of vast amounts of data from the internet, including content from news outlets and reference materials, to train the sophisticated language models powering products like ChatGPT.
The conflict between publishers, authors, and AI technology companies has escalated recently, with the justification of data usage under the umbrella of “fair use.” The lawsuit by The New York Times has highlighted instances where AI models, such as GPT-4, have reproduced segments of their articles verbatim.
In September 2023, notable authors filed a separate lawsuit against OpenAI and other software entities for the unauthorized utilization of their intellectual property. This issue is expected to intensify in the near future, as more publishers resort to protective measures to prevent content scraping while seeking viable alternatives to their outdated print offerings.
