photo by The New York Times
On Wednesday, the New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement.
Source: The New York Times
Details: The Times is the first major US media organization to sue the companies behind ChatGPT and other popular artificial intelligence platforms over copyright issues.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Federal District Court, alleges that millions of articles published by The Times were used to train automated chatbots that now rival the news outlet as a source of reliable information.
The lawsuit does not contain a monetary claim. But it said the defendants should be held accountable for “billions of dollars in statutory and factual damages” stemming from the “illegal copying and exploitation of The Times' uniquely valuable works.” It also calls on companies to destroy any chatbot models and training data that use copyrighted material from The Times.
In its complaint, The Times said it approached Microsoft and OpenAI in April to raise concerns about the use of its intellectual property and reach an “amicable resolution,” possibly establishing a commercial agreement and “technological boundaries” around generative AI products.
But the negotiations did not yield results.
OpenAI spokeswoman Lindsay Held said in a statement that the company was “moving forward constructively” in conversations with The Times and that it was “surprised and disappointed” by the lawsuit.
Microsoft declined to comment on the case.