NYT sues OpenAI and Microsoft over use of its content

The New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft over the use of its content to train generative artificial intelligence and large-language systems, a move that could see the company receive billions of dollars in damages.

- AEdward Helmore NEW YORK and Kari Paul SAN FRANCISCO

The copyright infringement lawsuit, filed in a Manhattan federal court last week, claims that while the companies copied information from many sources to build their systems, they give New York Times content "particular emphasis" and "seek to free-ride on the Times's massive investment in its journalism by using it to build substitutive products without permission or payment".

The "unlawful use" of the paper's "copyrighted news articles, in-depth investigations, opinion pieces, reviews, how-to guides, and more" to create artificial intelligence products "threatens The Times's ability to provide that service", the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit contains an appeal to the "vital” importance of the Times's independent journalism to democracy, arguing that it is "increasingly rare and valuable".

The publisher's lawsuit is the latest in a string of similar cases, including one brought by more than a dozen authors in September targeting the company for its use of their writing.