A coalition of prominent newspapers, including the New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, and Orlando Sentinel, has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI, accusing the tech giants of misappropriating millions of articles without permission to fuel the development of their generative AI products.
The lawsuit alleges that Microsoft and OpenAI have flagrantly disregarded the legal rights and efforts of journalists, reporters, and editors who create and publish news content that is essential to local communities.
According to the lawsuit, Microsoft and OpenAI have not only scraped articles from the newspapers to train their AI models but have also used these models to generate content that is identical or nearly identical to the original articles. The newspapers argue that this constitutes copyright infringement and has caused harm to their reputation and business.
Media Giants Accuse OpenAI, Microsoft Of News Piracy (Credits: MetaNews)
The lawsuit alleges that the AI models have a tendency to “hallucinate” and attribute inaccurate reporting to the newspapers, spreading disinformation and tarnishing their reputation. The newspapers claim this is a clear violation of their legal rights and a threat to the integrity of journalism.
The lawsuit also highlights the close relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI, with Microsoft having invested billions of dollars in the AI startup. This relationship has drawn scrutiny from regulators in the US and UK, who are concerned about the potential monopolistic practices and the impact on the news industry.
Newspapers File Copyright Lawsuit Against Chat GPT-Maker OpenAI (Credits: Miami New Times)
The newspapers seek damages and an injunction to stop Microsoft and OpenAI from using their content without permission. The lawsuit has implications for journalism’s future and AI’s use in content generation, and the media and tech industries will closely watch it.
