The lawsuit comes after unsuccessful negotiations between the Times and the companies, with the latter claiming that their use of the content was "fair use". The newspaper argues that the infringement has resulted in lost advertising and affiliate referral revenue. This follows previous lawsuits from authors including George RR Martin and John Grisham, who accused OpenAI of using their content to train ChatGPT without permission. Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT has gained significant attention, with a user base that grew by 9900% in January 2023 and reached an estimated 173 million by April 2023.
Key takeaways:
- The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI for using its content to train their generative AI tools without permission or payment.
- The Times alleges that these companies have used its content to build substitutive products and that their AI tools can generate output that closely mimics Times content.
- The lawsuit claims that Microsoft and OpenAI's use of Times content has significantly boosted their market capitalisation and valuation.
- This lawsuit follows similar actions by authors who have sued OpenAI for using their content to train ChatGPT without their permission.