MANILA, Philippines – The New York Times on Wednesday, December 27, sued OpenAI and Microsoft for infringing on its copyrights, saying that their “unlawful use of The Times’ work to create artificial intelligence products that compete with it threatens The Times’ ability to provide that service.”

The Times, in its reporting, said it was the first major US news organization to sue ChatGPT maker OpenAI and OpenAI investor Microsoft for copyright infringement.

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The complaint also states OpenAI and Microsoft sought “to free-ride on The Times’ massive investment in its journalism by using it to build substitutive products without permission or payment.” While it said AI firms took advantage and engaged in what it called “widescale copying from many sources,” the Times said there was “particular emphasis” on its content.

The Times isn’t seeking a specified amount of damages, but estimates damages to be in the “billions of dollars.” It also seeks the destruction of chatbot models and training sets incorporating Times material into their systems.

Speaking with Axios, an OpenAI spokesperson said, “We respect the rights of content creators and owners and are committed to working with them to ensure they benefit from AI technology and new revenue models.”

“Our ongoing conversations with the New York Times have been productive and moving forward constructively, so we are surprised and disappointed with this development. We’re hopeful that we will find a mutually beneficial way to work together, as we are doing with many other publishers,” OpenAI’s spokesperson added.

The full complaint can be read here. – Rappler.com