New York Times Sues OpenAI, Microsoft for Unauthorized Use of Articles

Claims of Using Own Content for AI Model Training
Demands for Billions in Damages

The New York Times (NYT) in the U.S. has sued OpenAI the developer of ChatGPT, and Microsoft (MS), which supports OpenAI. The reason is the alleged unauthorized use of millions of its articles.

On the 27th (local time), the NYT announced “We have sued OpenAI and MS on charges of copyright infringement” and “We have opened a new front in the increasingly fierce legal battle over unauthorized use of publications for training AI technology.”

The NYT claimed “We are the first major U.S. media organization to sue ChatGPT and popular AI platform developers over copyright issues” and “They used millions of articles we published for chatbot training.”

The lawsuit was taken over by a federal district court located in Manhattan, New York. The complaint did not include a specific monetary claim. However, the NYT demanded, “They should bear the responsibility for billions of dollars in legal damages and actual damages related to the illegal copying and use of unique and valuable works.”

Since the emergence of ChatGPT, there have been consistent criticisms in the industry about the unauthorized use of other company’s works in training large language models (LLMs). Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla who previously acquired Twitter (now X) also warned MS not to use Twitter data without permission. He later founded XAI an organization to counter OpenAI and used tweets for generative AI development.

Meanwhile, OpenAI spokesperson Lindsey Held said in a statement “We were surprised and disappointed by the lawsuit,” and “We are having constructive conversations with the NYT.” She added, “Like other copyright holders, we hope to find mutually beneficial ways through collaboration.”

By. Dae Young Ko