The New York Times (NYT) filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging copyright infringement. OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, expressed surprise at the lawsuit and stated that resolving the conflict with NYT is not a priority.
Last year, The
New York Times
(NYT) filed a lawsuit against
OpenAI
and
Microsoft
alleging millions of its articles were used to train OpenAI's ChatGPT, without their permission. The media conglomerate argued that this training, which involves copying substantial parts of their work, infringes on their copyright.
NYT
believes OpenAI and Microsoft are essentially profiting from their journalism without compensation.
Sam Altman
, CEO, OpenAI has now said that they were taken by surprise when NYT filed a legal case. Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum,
Altman
said, “We were as surprised as anybody else to read that they were suing us in The New York Times. That was sort of a strange thing.”
Altman further said that the lawsuit hasn’t got him worried at all. He also said that resolving the conflict with NYT is not a top priority for the company. “We are open to training [AI] on The New York Times, but it’s not our priority,” Altman said at the World Economic Forum.
He also said that OpenAI doesn’t need NYT’s data. “We actually don’t need to train on their data,” he added. “I think this is something that people don’t understand. Any one particular training source, it doesn’t move the needle for us that much,” said the OpenAI CEO.
What NYT has to say
NYT feels exploited for its investment in creating valuable content, while others profit without paying. The media housealso raised concerns about unfair competition as users might turn to chatbots for information instead of original reporting. “Settled copyright law protects our journalism and content,” NYT said when in the lawsuit. “If Microsoft and OpenAI want to use our work for commercial purposes, the law requires that they first obtain our permission. They have not done so.”
The NYT lawsuit could have far-reaching consequences, setting a precedent for how copyright law applies to AI-generated content. It may force tech companies to re-evaluate their data training practices and lead to changes in copyright legislation to address the unique challenges posed by AI technology.
English (US) ·