US government sides with OpenAI on issue of training LLMs on copyrighted material

The U.S. government has taken the side of OpenAI in a lawsuit filed by The New York Times against the AI company over its unlicensed use of copyrighted material to train its large language models (LLMs). In a 20-page brief, the Trump administration emphasized the importance of maintaining global leadership in artificial intelligence and argued that constraining LLM development under a misunderstanding of fair use doctrine would hinder progress and economic mobility.

The brief cites an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last year, highlighting the need for the U.S. to stay at the forefront of AI technology. The legal debate surrounding the use of copyrighted material to train AI models is complex, often revolving around fair use provisions of copyright law. Fair use allows for certain exceptions, such as when the use is deemed "transformative," meaning the new work adds value and isn't merely a copy of the original.

While this case is still being decided in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the government's intervention could potentially influence the outcome.