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OpenAI and Microsoft are facing a new legal challenge from two major US news organizations over the alleged use of their journalism to train artificial intelligence systems.
The Seattle Times and Newsday accused the companies of copying their articles without permission and using them to train and operate AI products. The newspapers also claimed their websites were scraped, including content available only to paying subscribers.
The publishers argued that AI tools can reproduce or closely rewrite their work. According to the newspapers, such outputs could reduce the need for readers to visit their websites or pay for subscriptions.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The news publishers claimed OpenAI and Microsoft used their content in datasets linked to products including ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and AI features in Bing.
The newspapers also stressed the cost of producing journalism. Seattle Times President and CEO Alan Fisco wrote to employees: “We feel strongly that we must defend our content, which we spend millions of dollars a year to produce, from being used without our consent or compensation.”
OpenAI rejected the suggestion that it acted outside copyright law. A company spokesperson said its AI models are trained using publicly available information and are based on fair use.
Microsoft also responded to the lawsuit, saying it was surprised by the case while recognizing the importance of local news organizations.
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“While we are surprised by the lawsuit, we appreciate the importance of local journalism, and we are always happy to sit down and explore solutions to this type of dispute,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.
The Seattle Times and Newsday are asking the court to order the companies to destroy copies of their work. They also want training datasets and AI models containing their copyrighted material destroyed.
The case adds to a growing list of copyright disputes involving AI companies and content creators.
The New York Times filed a similar lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft in 2023. This case remains ongoing. Several other copyright owners also filed legal actions against AI companies over the use of copyrighted material in AI training.
