News organizations, including The New York Times and the Orange County Register, have filed a motion asking a Manhattan judge to reject OpenAI and Microsoft's 'fair use' defense in a major copyright infringement lawsuit. They argue that the tech giants' AI models pirate original reporting without consent or compensation.
TL;DR
- News outlets challenge OpenAI and Microsoft's 'fair use' claim in copyright lawsuit, seeking a summary judgment before trial.
- The motion argues that AI models pirate original reporting, impacting journalism's future and AI's responsibility.
- OpenAI and Microsoft contend that their AI models transformatively use journalism, putting facts within reach of anyone.
What happened
News organizations, including The New York Times and the Orange County Register, filed a motion on Friday asking Manhattan Federal Judge Sidney Stein to reject OpenAI and Microsoft's 'fair use' defense in a copyright infringement lawsuit. The motion seeks a summary judgment on several core issues before the case goes to trial.
The news outlets argue that neither Microsoft nor OpenAI employed 'fair use' of their reporting at any stage of the AI pipeline, including acquiring articles behind paywalls and training large language models (LLMs) on the copied work.
OpenAI and Microsoft have filed their own motions, denying that their chatbots regurgitate news articles verbatim and stating that newspapers don't own the facts they gather. Microsoft contends that training its models with human-produced journalism amounts to a 'transformative' use of the material, protected under the 'fair use' legal doctrine.
Why it matters
This case has significant implications for the future of journalism and responsible AI development. The news organizations argue that preserving incentives for creative works is crucial for a healthy society.
The outcome of this lawsuit could impact how AI companies use copyrighted material for training their models and the potential compensation for journalists and news outlets.
The case also highlights the ethical considerations surrounding AI's use of copyrighted material and the potential for AI-generated content to distort facts and harm the market for news.
Key facts
- News organizations filed a motion seeking summary judgment in a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft.
- The motion argues that OpenAI and Microsoft did not employ 'fair use' of news reporting in their AI models.
- OpenAI and Microsoft deny regurgitating news articles verbatim and contend that their AI models transformatively use journalism.
- The news outlets plan to unseal heavily redacted portions of their motions in the coming weeks, relating to admissions by Microsoft executives.
- OpenAI has acknowledged that a large chunk of its users go to ChatGPT for news, impacting website traffic and subscriptions.
- According to the lawsuit, it would cost around $6,800 to generate 1 million news-style articles averaging 500 words each using OpenAI's pricing.
- The news organizations have also sought sanctions against OpenAI for allegedly destroying evidence and concealing its ability to locate stolen news stories.
- Microsoft's AI knowledge assistant, Copilot, was built around OpenAI's GPT models.
Context
This lawsuit is part of a broader conversation about the ethical and legal implications of AI's use of copyrighted material. As AI models become more advanced, they increasingly rely on vast amounts of data, often scraped from the internet, which can include copyrighted works.
The case also highlights the tension between AI companies and content creators over compensation for the use of copyrighted material. This tension is likely to grow as AI becomes more integrated into various industries, including journalism.
The outcome of this lawsuit could set a precedent for future cases involving AI and copyright infringement, potentially shaping the landscape of AI development and journalism.
