Seattle Times and Newsday sue OpenAI and Microsoft for infringement

The Seattle Times and Newsday have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that the technology companies engaged in copyright infringement by utilizing their journalistic content to train artificial intelligence models. The legal complaint asserts that the defendants used proprietary reporting without authorization and that their AI tools frequently reproduce verbatim passages from the newspapers' articles in response to user queries.

This litigation adds to a mounting wave of legal challenges from media outlets seeking to protect their intellectual property in the era of generative AI. The plaintiffs argue that the unauthorized ingestion of their work undermines the economic model of journalism, as AI systems can provide information derived from their reporting without driving traffic to the original sources or compensating the publishers.

OpenAI and Microsoft have previously maintained that their use of publicly available internet data falls under the umbrella of fair use, arguing that it is essential for the development of advanced AI capabilities. As these cases proceed through the court system, they are expected to set significant precedents regarding the intersection of copyright law and the training of large language models.

Representatives for the newspapers stated that the action is necessary to ensure that the value of their investigative and daily reporting is recognized and protected. The outcome of this case, alongside similar lawsuits from other major media organizations, will likely influence future licensing agreements and the operational standards for AI developers regarding how they source and utilize training data.