Publishers sue OpenAI, Microsoft over alleged use of news content to train AI models

OpenAI and Microsoft are facing a new copyright lawsuit from publishers representing nearly 400 newspapers, accusing the companies of unlawfully using copyrighted journalism to develop generative AI tools, including ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, Bloomberg Law reported.The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges the companies built their large language models using news articles and other original editorial content taken from the publishers' websites without authorisation or compensation.According to the complaint, OpenAI and Microsoft copied material from the publishers' websites onto their own systems after crawling them, removed copyright management information from the works and later reproduced portions of that content in responses generated by their AI products.The publishers contend that despite spending billions of dollars to produce and safeguard their journalism, including by placing content behind paywalls, they have received nothing in return while the defendants' AI products have added billions of dollars in market value.The complaint also argues that allowing AI companies to continue using publishers' work without accountability could severely undermine local journalism, which the plaintiffs describe as vital to communities across the United States.OpenAI rejected the allegations. Drew Pusateri, a spokesperson for the company, told Bloomberg that OpenAI's models are trained on publicly available data, are based on fair use and are designed to support innovation.Matthew Platkin, former New Jersey Attorney General and founder of Platkin LLP, which represents the publishers, said the case is the largest legal challenge brought by local and regional newspaper publishers against AI developers. He added that previous copyright lawsuits involving AI companies had largely focused on larger media organisations, leaving local publishers out of the broader legal battle.Platkin said local newspapers continue to be among the most trusted sources of news for Americans and argued that any future resolution should not be limited to the biggest players in the industry while excluding publishers that continue to report on local issues.The publishers are seeking statutory damages along with injunctive relief over alleged copyright infringement and violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.The lawsuit adds to a growing number of copyright disputes involving AI developers. According to the complaint, CNN, The New York Times, Reddit and Merriam-Webster have separately filed lawsuits against Perplexity AI.