Microsoft Executive Calls AI Scraping 'Theft of Unprecedented Proportions'
A Microsoft executive has described AI scraping as 'theft of unprecedented proportions.' According to court documents filed by the New York Times (NYT) in its copyright infringement case against Microsoft and OpenAI, Director of Applied Science Brent Hecht made this statement. The suit also involves the Orlando Sentinel.
Hecht's comments were made in response to the use of large language models that 'hoover up' content created by millions of people worldwide without their consent or compensation. This phenomenon is expected to become more widespread, with some anticipating it will soon be considered a significant issue.
The Microsoft executive framed his statement as a contrarian view, implying that not everyone shares the same perspective on AI scraping. The court documents do not provide further context or clarify Hecht's intended meaning behind this characterization.