Tech Execs Expose AI Products as Journalism Substitutes in Copyright Case

A closely watched copyright case has taken a significant turn as court filings made public on Thursday reveal that OpenAI and Microsoft executives privately described their AI products as substitutes for journalism.

The New York Times, along with several other news outlets, say these quotes threaten the tech companies' fair-use defense in the lawsuit. OpenAI and its largest financial backer, Microsoft, have argued that their AI training on millions of newspaper articles is protected as fair use because it transforms copyrighted material into new content.

However, according to court filings, OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman wrote that large language models are 'particularly good at predicting text of news articles' and 'excellent at news.' He also responded positively when told about a 'hack' to get around the New York Times' paywall.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella agreed under oath that conversing with chatbots has substituted for giving users information directly on their website or platform, rather than needing to visit the underlying source. A Microsoft spokesperson said this comment does not undermine the company's defense in the copyright case.