A group of newspapers in the United States (US) are taking OpenAI and its investor Microsoft to court, accusing them of stealing millions of copyrighted news articles.
The group of newspapers, comprising eight publications, has complained that OpenAI, the parent of generative AI chatbot ChatGPT, and its biggest investor Microsoft, lifted news content without obtaining permission from the publications or paying them. “Millions” of news articles have been scraped from these publications to train the AI systems owned by OpenAI, they say.
The publications argue that they have made hefty investments to develop their journalistic catalogues, and that they will not allow their work to be used without permission or monetary compensation. “We’ve spent billions of dollars gathering information and reporting news at our publications, and we can’t allow OpenAI and Microsoft to expand the Big Tech playbook of stealing our work to build their own businesses at our expense,” says Frank Pine, executive editor for the MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing, in a statement.
The publications include Mercury News, Orange County Register, Denver Post, and St Paul Pioneer-Press, which are owned by the Media News Group. South Florida Sun Sentinel and Orlando Sentinel of Tribune Publishing are also part of the collective suing OpenAI and Microsoft. Alden Global Capital, which is based in New York, owns all of these newspapers.
No comment has been by Microsoft so far in response to the development. OpenAI has, however, said that the firm supports news organisations. “While we were not previously aware of Alden Global Capital’s concerns, we are actively engaged in constructive partnerships and conversations with many news organizations around the world to explore opportunities, discuss any concerns, and provide solutions.”
This is not the first time that OpenAI and Microsoft have been taken to court over copyright infringements by news publications. In December 2023, The New York Times sued the AI company and its investor, accusing them of violating copyright laws to train their artificial intelligence systems. OpenAI responded by saying the lawsuit was “without merit” and that the company sought to support journalists and news organisations through its products.
