The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft over the use of millions of the newspaper’s articles without permission to help train its artificial intelligence chatbots that now compete with it. The move has intensified the legal battle over the unauthorized use of published work to train AI technologies.
The Times is the first major American media organization to sue OpenAI and Microsoft, which created ChatGPT and other AI platforms, over copyright issues.
“Defendants seek to free-ride on The Times’s massive investment in its journalism by using it to build substitutive products without permission or payment,” according to the complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.
In its suit, NYT did not include an exact monetary demand, but said it believes OpenAI and Microsoft have caused “billions of dollars” in damages for illegally copying and using its works.