The Trump administration is supporting OpenAI in the NYT copyright lawsuit

The Trump administration has filed a brief in support of OpenAI in its legal battle against the New York Times and other newspapers over the use of copyrighted material to train OpenAI's AI language models. This appears to be the first time the US government has commented on the wave of copyright infringement lawsuits brought by various industries including authors, publishers, music labels, and news outlets against tech companies utilizing their work to train AI systems.

While the brief holds advisory value rather than legal authority, it could potentially bolster tech companies as they defend against these claims.

The administration stresses the US interest in the court rejecting any argument that training large language models (LLMs) using copyrighted texts infringes on copyright law. This concern is rooted in the belief that such advancements could benefit scientific progress and national security interests. US Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward stated that the administration will not allow the nation to fall behind its competitors due to a misguided interpretation of copyright law.

Additionally, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick informed G20 officials at a meeting in North Carolina that countries should adopt fair use principles to enable AI companies to train their models using the work of creators, while finding a way to protect artists. The New York Times' lawsuit, launched in 2023, claims that OpenAI and its primary investor, Microsoft, employed millions of newspaper articles without permission to train OpenAI's popular chatbot.

This case is one among dozens of legal actions filed by copyright owners against technology giants like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta Platforms, which allege misuse of their material to train AI systems.

All pending cases hinge on the question of whether AI systems make fair use of copyrighted material to generate new, transformative content. Initially, two judges had contrasting rulings last year. The US government aligned with tech companies, asserting that AI training is "extraordinarily" transformative. The brief further highlights that LLMs are already aiding researchers across various fields in achieving significant breakthroughs.

Constraining LLM development due to misinterpretation of fair use could hinder creative and scientific progress while impeding American prosperity and economic mobility, according to the brief.