On the 27th of December, a groundbreaking legal battle unfolded in the bustling realm of artificial intelligence, as The New York Times (NYT.N) initiated a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft (MSFT.O). This bold move asserts that the tech giants utilized millions of NYT’s articles without authorization, purportedly employing them to train chatbots designed to disseminate information to users.
Distinguished as the initial major U.S. media organization to take legal action against OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and Microsoft, an investor and creator of the AI platform now known as Copilot, the NYT is levying serious accusations of copyright infringement.
The lawsuit, lodged in the federal court of Manhattan, contends that OpenAI and Microsoft attempted to exploit The Times’ extensive investment in journalism to create alternative avenues for information delivery, ultimately diverting audiences from the esteemed publication.
In a departure from traditional legal defenses, OpenAI and Microsoft have asserted that employing copyrighted works for AI training constitutes “fair use,” a doctrine governing unlicensed use of copyrighted material. This divergence in legal interpretation sets the stage for a contentious legal battle that could reshape the landscape of AI development.
While negotiations aimed at avoiding litigation and establishing a “mutually beneficial value exchange” proved unfruitful, the NYT is not merely seeking damages but is estimated to be eyeing damages in the “billions of dollars.” Additionally, the venerable newspaper is urging the destruction of chatbot models and training sets that incorporate its proprietary material.
Notably, this clash of titans in the AI sphere comes at a time when investors have assigned a staggering valuation of over $80 billion to OpenAI, underscoring the financial stakes involved.
Interestingly, renowned novelists such as David Baldacci, Jonathan Franzen, John Grisham, and Scott Turow have also joined the legal fray, lodging complaints against OpenAI and Microsoft in the Manhattan federal court. Their contention suggests concerns that AI systems might have co-opted tens of thousands of literary works.
The lawsuit from The Times underscores the broader implications of AI scraping content from the internet to train chatbots, raising questions about the ethical and legal boundaries in this rapidly evolving field. As the legal drama unfolds, it prompts contemplation on the delicate balance between innovation and the protection of intellectual property rights in the age of artificial intelligence.
