American newspapers sue Microsoft and OpenAI for copyright infringement in AI training

Eight newspapers from the United States filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York against Microsoft and OpenAI. They claim that the tech giants illegally used numerous articles to train their AI products, including Microsoft Copilot and OpenAI ChatGPT, in violation of copyright.

This complaint follows a number of similar lawsuits currently underway against Microsoft and OpenAI. Previously, similar accusations were made by the New York Times and other news publications such as The Intercept, Raw Story and AlterNet.

The newspaper lawsuits could become a landmark case in the fight over rights to data used to train AI systems. MediaNews Group lawyer Stephen Lieberman said that OpenAI's success is largely due to the work of other authors. He emphasized that companies understand the need to spend on computers, chips and employee salaries, but for some reason they believe that they can use content without permission or payment.

The lawsuit states that Microsoft and OpenAI chatbots can reproduce copyrighted newspaper content verbatim. In addition, it is alleged that ChatGPT is “hallucinating” fake articles, damaging the reputation of publications. An example is a Denver Post article promoting smoking as a way to combat asthma.

Plaintiffs also include the Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, San Jose Mercury News, Orange County Register and Twin Cities Pioneer Press. They are seeking compensation for the damage caused and a court order prohibiting any further violations.