US sides with OpenAI in New York Times copyright lawsuit

The US Department of Justice has filed a brief supporting OpenAI's argument in a lawsuit brought by the New York Times. The lawsuit claims OpenAI misused the newspaper's articles to train its artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT, without permission or compensation. According to The Hindu - Sci-Tech, the Department of Justice argued that OpenAI's practice is protected by the "fair use" doctrine of copyright law.

The Department of Justice stated that the benefits of training large language models on copyrighted content "far outweigh any competitive harm," and that siding with the New York Times would hinder "creative and scientific progress" and "American prosperity and economic mobility." The Guardian Technology reported that the brief, filed in Manhattan federal court, has advisory rather than legal weight, but could bolster tech companies in similar lawsuits.

The New York Times and other publishers accuse OpenAI of misusing their material to train AI systems without compensation. The lawsuit, first filed in 2023, claims OpenAI and its largest financial backer, Microsoft, used millions of newspaper articles without permission. The US government has a strong interest in developing a robust and competitive artificial intelligence industry, according to the Department of Justice's brief.

Brief written by urgent.news from Le Monde Economie, The Hindu - Sci-Tech, Guardian Technology, Winnipeg Free Press — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.