NYT accuses OpenAI and Microsoft of using news for AI — Channel NewsAsia
In the United States, The New York Times said in a court filing released on September 17 that OpenAI used millions of news articles to train artificial intelligence models. As reported by Channel NewsAsia, the publication claims that the company collected content from more than 10 million articles, nearly one-third of which belonged to The New York Times.
Claims by the plaintiffs
The document states that Microsoft director of applied sciences Brent Hecht allegedly described OpenAI’s use of news content as an unprecedented theft of labor. According to the plaintiffs, he also warned of possible unintentional concealment during OpenAI’s attempts to determine what content from The New York Times and other plaintiffs is contained in its systems.
A Microsoft spokesperson told AFP that Hecht’s remarks reflected the individual position of one employee rather than the company’s views.
Course of the case
The New York Times filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft in a federal court in New York three years ago. The newspaper claims that its copyrighted materials were used to train OpenAI’s flagship ChatGPT model. Microsoft first invested in OpenAI in 2019.
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Ziff Davis, which owns CNET and other technology publications, the parent company of Mother Jones magazine, the investigative journalism website The Intercept, and several local US newspapers have also joined the lawsuit. The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for each article that they claim was used by OpenAI’s models. The total possible amount of payments is currently unknown.
After launching ChatGPT at the end of 2022, OpenAI entered into licensing agreements with many news publishers around the world. At the same time, concerns persist that generative AI reduces traffic to news websites. The companies have tried to address these accusations by adding links to sources in responses to users, but this approach has been criticized as insufficient.
OpenAI and Microsoft argue that the use of news content is transformative and falls under the principle of fair use. At the beginning of September, the US Department of Justice submitted a position in support of the companies, citing scientific progress, economic growth, and national security. The plaintiffs are asking the court to rule in their favor without a trial; if Judge Sidney Stein grants the motion, the case will not proceed to trial. A decision is not expected until 2027.
