NEW YORK (Diya TV) — The New York Times filed a federal lawsuit against tech giants OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of copyright infringement by using millions of its articles to train A.I. models, including the popular ChatGPT. This legal action, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, marks the first major American media organization taking on A.I. developers over the unauthorized use of published content.
The lawsuit, devoid of an exact monetary demand but hinting at “billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages,” alleges that OpenAI and Microsoft are responsible for the “unlawful copying and use” of The Times’s articles. It further insists on the destruction of any A.I. models and training data incorporating copyrighted material from The Times.
The legal battle highlights the emerging legal challenges surrounding generative A.I. technologies, particularly their use of copyrighted materials to train chatbots. OpenAI, valued at over $80 billion, and Microsoft, with a $13 billion commitment to OpenAI, are accused of exploiting The Times’s journalistic investment to create products that compete with and divert audiences from the news outlet.
The lawsuit underscores concerns about the uncompensated use of intellectual property by A.I. systems, as exemplified by other lawsuits in the creative industries. The Times argues that the A.I. models not only compete directly with its content but also risk tarnishing its brand through the dissemination of false information attributed to the newspaper.
The legal action follows unsuccessful negotiations initiated by The Times in April, where it sought a deal with Microsoft and OpenAI.
