The lawsuit filed by The New York Times against Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI alleges that both entities unlawfully utilized a significant amount of The Times’ content to train their artificial intelligence models. The complaint, lodged in a New York federal court, accuses Microsoft and OpenAI of infringing on copyrights by placing undue focus on The Times’ content during the development of their AI model.
Large language models, such as those powering Microsoft’s Copilot AI chatbots and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, rely heavily on human-generated content to refine their conversational abilities akin to human interaction. The need for diverse data sources leads these companies to scrape information from various online platforms. Despite attempts by The Times to negotiate the use of its content in new digital products, no agreement was reached with the defendants.
The lawsuit challenges the notion of “fair use” put forth by OpenAI and Microsoft, arguing that the AI outputs closely resemble the original content, thereby negating any claim of transformation. The complaint highlights instances where the AI models generated misleading information attributed to The Times, potentially damaging the news outlet’s credibility.
In contrast to agreements reached with other content producers, OpenAI’s dealings with The Times, CNN, Reuters, and similar media outlets have faced obstacles due to concerns over copyright infringement. The legal action taken by The Times is part of a broader trend, with other authors and entities also pursuing litigation against OpenAI and Microsoft for unauthorized use of their works to train AI models.
While the specific damages sought by The Times remain undisclosed, the lawsuit aims to secure compensation, including attorney fees, potentially amounting to significant financial penalties. Furthermore, the lawsuit seeks the removal of all AI models and datasets containing The Times’ content.
