Seattle Times, Newsday sue OpenAI and Microsoft over AI training

Two prominent U.S. newspapers have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming the tech giants improperly utilized their journalistic content to train artificial intelligence systems without authorization, according to Reuters. The legal action, brought in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, asserts that the companies scraped articles from the newspapers' websites, including subscription-only pieces, and utilized the information in datasets for training and running AI products.

These products encompass OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Copilot, and AI functionalities embedded in Bing, as detailed in the complaint.

The newspapers argue that the AI systems can accurately reproduce segments from their reporting and closely paraphrase articles. They further contend that AI-generated responses could diminish the necessity for users to visit their websites or procure subscriptions. Alan Fisco, Seattle Times' President and CEO, emphasized the significant annual investment the newspaper makes in creating its journalism and the necessity to shield it from unauthorized usage or remuneration.

In response, OpenAI posited that its models are trained on publicly accessible data and that its methods align with the principle of fair use, although it refrained from commenting on the specifics of the lawsuit. Microsoft expressed surprise at the legal challenge and underscored its appreciation for local journalism, stating it is open to exploring potential resolutions to such disputes.

The newspapers are seeking a court order mandating the destruction of copies of their copyrighted works and any training datasets or AI models that incorporate their material. This case joins a growing number of copyright disputes involving AI developers and publishers. Earlier this year, in 2023, The New York Times similarly sued OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of infringing on their intellectual property rights.

Other copyright holders have also initiated legal proceedings against AI companies like Anthropic and Meta Platforms.