The lawsuit is part of a broader trend of media organizations seeking compensation from AI companies for allegedly using their content to train AI programs. OpenAI, the creator of the AI chatbot ChatGPT, uses information obtained from public web data to produce humanlike content. The Times argues that this constitutes "mass copyright infringement" and that the AI models can generate output that closely mimics its content, depriving the Times of subscription, licensing, advertising, and affiliate revenue.
Key takeaways:
- The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI, accusing them of copyright infringement and misuse of the newspaper's intellectual property to train large language models.
- The Times is seeking billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages for the alleged unlawful copying and use of its works.
- The lawsuit accuses Microsoft and OpenAI of creating a business model based on 'mass copyright infringement,' stating that the companies' AI systems were used to create multiple reproductions of The Times's intellectual property.
- The Times alleges that the AI models directly compete with its content, limit its commercial opportunities by altering its content, and deprive it of subscription, licensing, advertising, and affiliate revenue.