On December 27, 2023, The New York Times filed a significant lawsuit against OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and Microsoft, citing copyright infringement. This lawsuit, filed in a Manhattan federal court, marks a crucial moment in the intersection of media and artificial intelligence. The crux of the lawsuit is the alleged unlawful use of The Times’ published material by OpenAI and Microsoft to train their artificial intelligence chatbots. These actions, according to The Times, threaten its ability to provide journalistic services and compete in the media landscape.
The New York Times’ decision to pursue legal action is part of a broader movement by individuals and publishers seeking to prevent OpenAI from utilizing copyrighted material without authorization. The lawsuit notes that AI companies, including OpenAI, scrape information available online, including media articles, to train generative AI chatbots. These models are said to have rapidly attracted significant investments, raising concerns among media organizations about the implications for their own operations and copyright protections.
Microsoft, as OpenAI’s biggest backer and partner, has a substantial stake in this matter. The tech giant has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI since their partnership began in 2019. Microsoft’s supercomputers power OpenAI’s AI research, and the company integrates OpenAI’s technology into its products. This close relationship between the two companies is a key aspect of the lawsuit.
The complaint filed by The Times underscores a growing trend of legal challenges against OpenAI. The company has faced lawsuits from various writers, including comedian Sarah Silverman, alleging that their works were used without permission to train OpenAI’s AI models. Notably, over 4,000 writers signed a letter to the CEOs of OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and other AI developers, accusing them of exploitative practices in building chatbots that mimic and regurgitate their language and ideas.
Specifically, the lawsuit references instances where OpenAI’s GPT-4 produced outputs closely summarizing content from The Times, including verbatim excerpts. One notable example cited was the use of material from a Pulitzer-Prize-winning investigation by The Times. While the lawsuit does not specify the damages sought, it aims to hold OpenAI and Microsoft accountable for the alleged billions of dollars in damages for the unauthorized copying and use of The Times’ content.
This lawsuit follows what seems to be a breakdown in talks between The Times and the two companies. Earlier in 2023, The Times had reached out to Microsoft and OpenAI to address concerns regarding the use of its intellectual property. However, these negotiations did not lead to a resolution, prompting The Times to proceed with legal action. The Times emphasized its position of never permitting the use of its content for generative AI purposes, highlighting the importance it places on its journalistic integrity and the value of its work.
This legal battle represents a critical juncture in the evolving relationship between AI technology and copyright laws, especially concerning the use of journalistic content. It raises fundamental questions about the ethics and legality of using copyrighted material to train AI models, and how such practices might affect the media industry and intellectual property rights in the digital age.