The New York Times Takes on OpenAI and Microsoft in Copyright Lawsuit

In a significant escalation of the legal battles surrounding the use of published content to train artificial intelligence (A.I.) technologies, The New York Times has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft. This move marks the first instance of a major American media organization taking legal action against A.I. developers, including the creators of ChatGPT and other popular A.I. platforms.

The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, alleges that millions of articles published by The Times were utilized to train automated chatbots. These chatbots, the suit claims, now pose as direct competitors to The Times by providing reliable information, thereby impacting the news outlet’s readership. While the lawsuit does not specify a monetary demand, it asserts that the defendants should be held accountable for “billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages” resulting from the “unlawful copying and use of The Times’s uniquely valuable works.”

Microsoft, which has invested $13 billion in OpenAI and integrated its technology into the Bing search engine, declined to comment on the case. OpenAI, valued at over $80 billion, also refrained from an immediate response.

This legal battle could potentially shape the legal landscape surrounding generative A.I. technologies, which create text, images, and other content after learning from extensive data sets. The implications of this lawsuit extend beyond the immediate parties involved and may significantly impact the news industry, especially organizations like The Times that have successfully transitioned to online journalism.

The complaint argues that OpenAI and Microsoft are essentially benefiting from The Times’s substantial investment in journalism by using its content without proper compensation. It accuses the defendants of creating products that substitute for The Times, diverting audiences away from the news outlet.

The issue of uncompensated use of intellectual property by A.I. systems has been a growing concern across various creative industries. Notable cases include actress Sarah Silverman’s lawsuit against Meta and OpenAI and a lawsuit by authors, including Jonathan Franzen and John Grisham, against A.I. systems that absorbed tens of thousands of books.

Legal experts predict that these lawsuits could lead to a Supreme Court decision, as the boundaries of copyright law are tested amid technological advancements. The current case seems to have originated from failed negotiations between The Times, Microsoft, and OpenAI, where the newspaper raised concerns about the unauthorized use of its intellectual property.

The lawsuit not only seeks to protect intellectual property but also positions A.I. systems like ChatGPT as potential competitors in the news industry. The concern is that chatbots, equipped with information gleaned from The Times, could satisfy readers’ queries, reducing web traffic to the newspaper’s site and subsequently impacting advertising and subscription revenue.

Several examples cited in the complaint illustrate instances where chatbots provided near-verbatim excerpts from Times articles, potentially undermining the need for readers to visit The Times’s website. The lawsuit also draws attention to potential damage caused by A.I. “hallucinations,” where chatbots insert false information wrongly attributed to The Times.

As the legal battle unfolds, it raises questions about the balance between protecting intellectual property and fostering innovation in the A.I. industry. Some technology industry voices, including venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, argue that exposing A.I. companies to copyright liability could stifle development, leading to less competition and innovation.

The Times, in its pursuit of legal action, has retained the law firm Susman Godfrey as lead counsel. The outcome of this lawsuit could set precedent and have far-reaching implications for the future of A.I. development, copyright law, and the relationship between media organizations and tech giants.