 "OpenAI")
OpenAI has been criticized for largely removing text from the web to train its popular chatbot since its debut a year ago. (Photo: Bloomberg)
The New York Times Co. sued Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI Inc. for using its content to help develop artificial intelligence services, a sign of the increasingly tense relationship between media and a technology that could upend the news industry.
Tech companies have relied on millions of copyrighted articles to train chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other AI features, allegedly causing billions of dollars in legal and actual damages, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York. The Times did not specify its monetary demands.
OpenAI has been criticized for largely removing text from the web to train its popular chatbot since its debut a year ago. Although he has been sued by prominent authors, this is the first challenge to his practices by a major media organization. The startup has sought licensing deals with publishers, much like Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook have done in recent years. The Times’ lawsuit says the publisher contacted Microsoft and OpenAI in April and was unable to reach an amicable solution.
“We respect the rights of content creators and owners and are committed to working with them to ensure they benefit from AI technology and new revenue models,” said an OpenAI spokesperson in a press release. “Our ongoing conversations with The New York Times have been productive and are moving forward constructively, so we are surprised and disappointed by this development.” Microsoft declined to comment.
In July, OpenAI signed an agreement with the Associated Press to access certain news agency archives. OpenAI entered into a three-year deal with Axel Springer SE in December to use the German media company’s work for an undisclosed amount.
“We hope to find a mutually beneficial way to work together, as we do with many other publishers,” the OpenAI spokesperson said on Wednesday.
OpenAI has been the target of several lawsuits from content producers complaining that their work was inappropriately used for AI training. The company faces class-action lawsuits from cultural figures including comedian Sarah Silverman, Game of Thrones author George RR Martin and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon.
These cases are in their early stages and could take years to be fully resolved. A San Francisco judge hinted earlier this month at the possibility of scaling back Silverman’s copyright lawsuit against OpenAI. The judge had already restricted a similar suit against Silverman against Meta.
New financing
OpenAI is currently in talks with investors for new funding worth $100 billion that would make it the second most valuable U.S. startup, Bloomberg News reported last week.
Microsoft is OpenAI’s largest backer and has deployed the startup’s AI tools in several of its products. In the lawsuit, The New York Times claimed that Microsoft copied the newspaper’s articles verbatim for its Bing search engine and used OpenAI’s technology to increase its value by $1 trillion.
Microsoft’s stock price has increased 55% since ChatGPT launched in November 2022, bringing its market capitalization to $2.8 trillion. Shares were little changed Wednesday, closing at $374.07 in New York.
“If Microsoft and OpenAI wish to use our work for commercial purposes, the law requires that they first obtain our permission,” a New York Times spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “They did not do it.”
The legal battle
Lawsuit claims millions of articles published by the Times were used to train automated chatbots
It does not include an exact monetary request
It also calls on companies to destroy any chatbot models that use material copyrighted by The Times.
The complaint cites examples where a chatbot provided users with excerpts from premium Times articles
First publication: December 27, 2023 | 9:06 p.m. STI
