Publishers sue OpenAI, Microsoft for training ChatGPT with their content
Publishers are suing OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that the companies used their copyrighted newspaper content without permission to train ChatGPT.
Background
- A group of publishers (The Intercept, Raw Story, AlterNet) sued OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging they trained ChatGPT on copyrighted news articles without permission or payment.
- They claim ChatGPT reproduces or summarizes their work, bypassing paywalls and costing them ad revenue and subscriptions.
- This is part of a broader wave: The New York Times, Getty Images, and authors like George R.R. Martin have filed similar suits against AI companies. The core legal question is whether training AI on copyrighted material counts as "fair use" or infringement.
- If publishers win, AI companies might have to license data — creating a new revenue stream for news orgs. If AI companies win, the "scrape first, ask later" model continues.