The copyright war has begun, with The New York Times firing the first shot at OpenAI and Microsoft. The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI copied millions of articles from The New York Times and other media organizations without permission or payment in order to train its generative AI tool, ChatGPT. This raises questions about how generative AI tools are created and trained, a process that has remained largely undisclosed by creators and investors.
OpenAI quickly capitalized on the hype surrounding ChatGPT and introduced subscription plans, while Microsoft saw an opportunity and invested $10 billion in the technology. However, The New York Times claims that while users pay OpenAI for ‘smart’ answers from ChatGPT, OpenAI did not pay any fees to the newspaper when using its content to train the language model.
The lawsuit argues that OpenAI engaged in widespread copying from multiple media organizations, with a significant focus on The New York Times’ content. OpenAI has acknowledged this claim and attempted to find a resolution, but negotiations have failed thus far.
While Microsoft has remained silent on the matter, OpenAI’s spokesperson expressed surprise and disappointment at the lawsuit, stating that the company is working to find a mutually beneficial agreement with content creators. However, this raises concerns about smaller media platforms and the broader issue of technology companies profiting from the content created by others.
The lawsuit also highlights Microsoft’s use of Times-trained language models in its Bing search, generating responses that include verbatim excerpts and detailed summaries of Times articles. These actions have allegedly contributed to Microsoft’s market capitalization increasing by a trillion dollars in the past year, while OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT has driven its valuation up to $90 billion.
In terms of damages, The New York Times is not demanding a specific amount. Instead, the lawsuit states that OpenAI and Microsoft should be held responsible for billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages for copyright infringement.
Beyond the immediate copyright infringement issue, the lawsuit raises concerns about the future of news consumption. If AI chatbots like ChatGPT become the primary source of news and information, readers may no longer feel the need to click on links and visit actual news sources. This could lead to a loss of visitors and ad revenue for media organizations.
This lawsuit serves as a reminder of the challenges faced by media companies, particularly when technology companies reproduce content without proper authorization. Such actions undermine the significant investments made by media organizations in creating news networks and obtaining quality content. If this trend continues, the media industry could face serious consequences.
As the case unfolds, it remains to be seen how OpenAI and Microsoft will address the allegations of copyright infringement and whether they will agree to compensate The New York Times and other media organizations for the use of their content.
