The potential lawsuit comes after the Times updated its terms of service to prohibit the use of its content for AI training. The Times is reportedly concerned that OpenAI's ChatGPT could use its content to become a competitor. OpenAI may have to claim "fair use" of the web content it used for training its AI models to defend itself. This case could set a precedent for similar claims from other rights holders and could significantly impact the use of AI in newsrooms.
Key takeaways:
- The New York Times (NYT) may be preparing to sue OpenAI for infringing on its intellectual property rights by using its articles and images to train AI models, following an update to its terms of service that prohibits such actions.
- OpenAI could face fines up to $150,000 for each piece of infringing content and may have to completely rebuild ChatGPT's entire data set if the Times successfully proves the company copied its content illegally.
- The Times' top concern is that AI tools like ChatGPT could use its content to become a competitor by creating text that answers questions based on the original reporting and writing of the paper's staff.
- The Times is seemingly reconsidering a licensing deal with OpenAI, and meetings between the two have become contentious. The deal would have ensured that OpenAI paid for NYT content used to train its models.