In a significant turn of events, in December 2023, the New York Times took legal action against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of using their copyrighted articles to train their chatbots.
This was followed by eight more daily newspapers, all owned by the Alden Global Capital Group, including The New York Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, The Orlando Sentinel, The Sun Sentinel of Florida, San Jose Mercury News, The Denver Post, The Orange County Register, and The St. Paul Pioneer Press, filing lawsuits on May 1, 2024.
The allegations include copyright infringement, unfair competition by misappropriation, and trademark dilution, marking a crucial moment in the evolving relationship between technology and media.
The complaint, filed in the federal court in the U.S. Southern District of New York, alleges that OpenAI and Microsoft used copyrighted articles without permission to train their generative AI products and surfacing articles from behind paywalls.
Another allegation is that the chatbots falsely credited the publications for inaccurate and misleading reporting, thereby “tarnishing the newspapers’ reputations and spreading dangerous information”. these allegations could have far-reaching implications for the future of AI and its relationship with the media.
At the same time, more and more news outlets are instead making deals with OpenAI, such as The Associated Press. Recently, The Financial Times entered a partnership where OpenAI will use its content to train and develop its AI model.
In a news industry that is ever-changing due to AI and the new ways of searching for information and news, these are two interesting parallel routes that AWA will closely monitor and assess as they develop.
