Publishers Sue OpenAI and Microsoft Over Alleged AI-Training Copyright Infringement

OpenAI and Microsoft are facing allegations of copyright infringement by several major publishers. The companies allegedly copied millions of copyrighted articles to train their AI models, including ChatGPT and Copilot. According to Brent Hecht, Microsoft's director of applied science, the infringement is 'an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions.'

The publishers, which include The New York Times and The Daily News Plaintiffs, claim that the companies used the material commercially and that their products compete with the publishers' own core businesses.

Internal documents allegedly show that the companies valued news content and knew AI tools could reduce publisher traffic. Nick Turley, OpenAI's Head of ChatGPT, even wrote that publishers face an 'existential threat' from the company's products.