NEW YORK — A federal court has made a significant ruling, allowing The New York Times and a coalition of other newspapers to push forward with a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft. The lawsuit aims to stop the utilization of their published articles in training AI chatbots.
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein, presiding over the case in New York, has decided to dismiss some claims but is permitting most of the lawsuit to proceed, potentially leading to a jury trial. “We appreciate Judge Stein’s careful consideration of these issues,” stated Ian Crosby, the attorney for The New York Times. He emphasized that the decision allows the continuation of copyright claims against Microsoft and OpenAI, pursuing them for allegedly using millions of The Times’s works without permission.
This development has also been acknowledged by Frank Pine, the executive editor of MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing. Pine affirmed that the core issue remains unaffected by the dismissed claims, which is the alleged theft of their content, arguing it significantly harms their business.
Judge Stein has yet to provide detailed reasons for this ruling but mentioned that an explanation would be forthcoming. Meanwhile, OpenAI expressed satisfaction with the dismissal of certain claims, maintaining that its AI models are built on publicly available data, emphasizing a foundation in fair use and supporting innovation.
Microsoft has refrained from commenting on the ongoing lawsuit. The New York Times insists that OpenAI, in collaboration with Microsoft, has jeopardized its business by allegedly appropriating its journalists’ work, reproducing Times’ content through AI platforms like ChatGPT.
As this legal confrontation unfolds, it spotlights the ongoing debate on copyright issues in the realm of artificial intelligence and the use of digital content for training advanced AI systems.