The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of using its copyrighted content without permission to train AI tools such as ChatGPT. This marks the first major legal challenge by a U.S. media company against the creators of generative AI models over the use of journalistic material.
The complaint, filed in a federal court in Manhattan, claims that millions of the Times’ articles were used to train AI models that now compete with the newspaper by providing users with similar information. While no specific financial figure was stated, the suit seeks damages potentially worth billions of dollars, as well as the deletion of any models and datasets that contain or were trained using The Times’ content.
Key Allegations
The Times argues that OpenAI and Microsoft have unfairly profited from its journalistic work without offering any compensation. According to the lawsuit, the companies leveraged the publication’s trusted reporting to build AI systems that could replicate or summarize its content, at times offering responses nearly identical to paywalled articles.
“The defendants are attempting to capitalize on The Times’ substantial investment in journalism by copying and using its work without paying, effectively diverting readers from the original source,” the lawsuit states.
The media outlet said it had approached both companies in April to address concerns and explore a possible agreement involving compensation and protective measures, but discussions failed to produce a resolution.
AI Seen as a Competitive Threat
Beyond the copyright claims, The Times positions AI tools like ChatGPT as direct competitors to traditional news outlets. The lawsuit expresses concern that users asking chatbots about current events may receive detailed responses drawn from the Times’ reporting, reducing the need to visit the publication’s site.
This not only threatens The Times’ traffic and potential revenue from ads and subscriptions but also raises concerns about content being reproduced without proper attribution or access controls.
The complaint includes multiple examples where chatbot outputs closely matched Times articles that typically require a subscription to access. The lawsuit also alleges that OpenAI and Microsoft gave special attention to The Times’ content due to its reputation for reliability, further reinforcing the need for compensation and proper usage rights.
