Why are eight US newspapers suing OpenAI and Microsoft?

While OpenAI & Microsoft partner up with media, 8 local newspapers in the US sue both AI giants over alleged copyright violations. 

The lawsuit, which The New York Times posted, was filed by subsidiaries of Alden in the U.S. Southern District of New York. A total of eight newspapers include the likes of The New York Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, The Orlando Sentinel, The Sun Sentinel of Florida, The San Jose Mercury News, The Denver Post, The Orange County Register, and The St. Paul Pioneer Press.

All these papers are owned by Alden Global Capital through their subsidiaries, MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing. The newspapers say OpenAI and Microsoft used lots of their articles without asking to teach their A.I. like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. They’re not asking for money specifically, but they want a trial to get compensation for using their stuff. 

They say the AI showed whole articles from behind paywalls and didn’t always say where they came from, which means people didn’t need to pay for subscriptions and the newspapers lost money. 

The arrival of AI is certain, and like all new technologies, it affects our lives for better or worse. This extends to folks working in journalism, where AI chatbots such as ChatGPT can boost productivity by providing explanations. But it’s evident that some use AI solely to generate articles, a practice that, honestly, isn’t ideal.

This isn’t the first time a media company has sued an AI company. The New York Times sued OpenAI for copyright infringement because their chatbot could access NYT articles without paying, costing the company “billions” of dollars.

But it’s not all bad, to say the least. OpenAI has just recently inked a partnership deal with the Financial Times to bring FT’s exclusive news to ChatGPT. That means the business newspaper will also license its content to the Microsoft-backed company, which includes summaries, quotes, and links.