The owner of ChatGPT has requested proof from The New York Times that their articles are original. The media company has responded by stating that OpenAI, the organization behind ChatGPT, has asked for interview memos, reporters’ notes, and other materials cited in NYT articles. The Times has raised concerns about the broad and unprecedented nature of this request, calling it harassment and retaliation for the lawsuit filed by The Times against OpenAI for alleged copyright infringement.
The NYT argues that OpenAI is not entitled to unlimited access to nearly 100 years of reporters’ files, as this could potentially raise doubts about the validity of The Times’s copyrights. Despite OpenAI clarifying that they are not seeking the identities of confidential sources, The Times questions how they can separate the information from the sources themselves. This lawsuit is significant as it marks The Times as the first major U.S. media company to take legal action against OpenAI for copyright infringement, setting a potential precedent for future cases.