Microsoft Exec Calls AI Impact on Publishers 'Largest Theft of Labor in Human History'

The largest theft of labor in human history is how Dr Brent Hecht, Microsoft's Director of Applied Science, described the impact of AI content on publishers. The comment was made in a 92-page brief unsealed in the consolidated OpenAI copyright litigation before Judge Sidney H. Stein.

The plaintiffs, which include The New York Times, the Daily News group, and Ziff Davis, have accused OpenAI of using their copyrighted works without permission or compensation. Microsoft's internal documents reveal that the company's AI content strategy has started a 'doom loop' that threatens the economic foundations of its own suppliers.

The brief cites company data on click-through rates falling 87% to 93% for The Times' websites, 83% to 91% for the Daily News group's, and 51% to 94% for Ziff Davis's. This is compared to Copilot against traditional Bing search.

Much of this data was gathered after the lawsuit was filed. Hecht wrote that systems work by replicating patterns in their training content, which can't pass economic value back down the supply chain. This 'necessarily threatens the economic stability of those who create the content', he said.