Trump administration backs OpenAI in New York Times’ copyright case over training of chatbots
The Justice Department wrote that “the creative possibilities and public benefits” of training large language models on such content “far outweigh any competitive harm”
The Trump administration has taken a stance supporting OpenAI in a high-profile copyright dispute with The New York Times, arguing that the company's use of vast amounts of online content to train its AI models falls under the "fair use" umbrella of copyright law. In legal filings made on Tuesday, the Justice Department emphasized that permitting OpenAI's approach would "far outweigh any competitive harm" and advance creative industries, ultimately benefiting American prosperity and economic mobility.
The department contends that AI models are rapidly reshaping the economy and national security, and the "creative benefits often overlap with national security interests." The New York Times, however, contends that the administration is siding with major AI corporations at the expense of content creators, who argue that the tech giant is stealing billions of dollars' worth of their work to build artificial intelligence systems.
The Times sued OpenAI in 2023, highlighting the threat to journalists' livelihoods and the potential for AI-generated content to undermine the demand for human-created material. Other news organizations, such as The New York Daily News, the Chicago Tribune, Ziff Davis, and the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting, have joined the legal battle.
The controversy surrounding AI and copyright issues has become increasingly common as the technology has grown in prominence over the past five years, with numerous disputes now facing courts without clear precedents.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu - Sci-Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
