The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft on Wednesday for using articles published by the newspaper for the development of artificial intelligence. The newspaper writes that this constitutes copyright infringement and points out that chatbots such as ChatGPT, which have been developed with the help of “millions” of their own articles, are now competing with newspapers such as The New York Times.
The case is a new step in an ongoing legal discussion between media companies and tech companies about the use of data for the development of artificial intelligence. The newspaper says it believes it is one of the largest sources of data from which OpenAI, among others, has drawn. This would have resulted in a loss of income from advertisements and subscriptions, among other things. The suit alleges “billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages.”
The newspaper demands, among other things, that OpenAI and Microsoft’s Copilot use all models and data developed with material from The New York Times be destroyed. Compensation would also have to be paid. “The Times’ journalism is the work of thousands of journalists, whose work costs hundreds of millions of dollars a year,” the newspaper wrote. Some articles in the newspaper could literally be found via OpenAI.
Earlier this year, the newspaper reportedly tried to conclude an agreement with Microsoft and OpenAI, partly because of the use of their articles by the tech companies. “The Times’ goal in these negotiations was to ensure that it received fair value for the use of its content,” the complaint reads. It is not known why those negotiations broke down.
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