A group of eight U.S. newspapers, including the New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, and Denver Post, have filed a lawsuit against ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Microsoft. The newspapers allege that the technology companies have been using millions of copyrighted news articles without permission or payment to train their artificial intelligence chatbots.
The lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court, accuses OpenAI and Microsoft of "purloining" the newspapers' content to build their businesses at the expense of the publishers. The newspapers involved in the lawsuit are owned by Alden Global Capital and include MediaNews Group's Mercury News, Orange County Register, and St. Paul Pioneer-Press, as well as Tribune Publishing's Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Microsoft declined to comment on the lawsuit, while OpenAI stated that it takes care to support news organizations and is engaged in constructive partnerships with many media outlets. This lawsuit is just the latest in a series of copyright lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft, with the companies already facing legal challenges from the New York Times, bestselling authors, and other media outlets.
Tech companies have argued that using publicly accessible internet content to train AI systems falls under the "fair use" doctrine of American copyright law. Some companies have avoided legal challenges by paying organizations for their content, as seen in OpenAI's licensing deals with the Associated Press, Axel Springer, Prisa Media, Le Monde, and the Financial Times.
Overall, the lawsuit highlights the ongoing debate around the use of copyrighted content by tech companies to train AI systems. As the legal battle continues, it will be interesting to see how the courts navigate the complex intersection of technology, copyright law, and media rights.