The New York Times has filed a significant copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging unauthorized use of its journalistic content in AI training.

The lawsuit claims OpenAI and Microsoft used millions of Times articles without permission or compensation to train their AI models, including ChatGPT. Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI and will receive 75% of profits until the investment is repaid, followed by a 49% ownership stake.

Key allegations include:

• Unauthorized copying of Times content for AI model training
• Use of Times articles as a primary training source through Common Crawl datasets
• ChatGPT reproducing Times articles verbatim in response to user prompts
• Unauthorized display of content through Bing Chat and Browse with Bing
• Generation of false articles attributed to the Times, causing reputational damage

The Times seeks damages for:

• Copyright infringement (vicarious and contributory)
• DMCA violations
• Unfair competition
• Trademark dilution

Prior to the lawsuit, the Times attempted negotiations with both companies in April 2023 to reach a licensing agreement, but talks were unsuccessful.

This case joins numerous other ongoing legal challenges against AI companies regarding copyright infringement and content usage.

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