OpenAI’s AI Training Lands It in Another Copyright Fight
Synopsis
Seattle Times and Newsday sued OpenAI and Microsoft over alleged unauthorized use of journalism for AI training, adding another copyright dispute involving major technology companies and publishers.
The Seattle Times and Newsday, who filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft in the US federal court, claiming their work was stolen and used for AI training.
The publishers claim they have hundreds of thousands of articles they hold in their possession which have been stolen and accessed without permission. Some of the material has been accessed without paying the fees or ignoring restrictions on websites, the complaint adds.
Publishers Seek Damages and Model Destruction
The lawsuit filed by the newspapers with OpenAI asks for a financial settlement and the removal of datasets and AI models claiming to include the newspapers' copyrighted content.
The grievance recites examples of ChatGPT plagiarizing from newspapers. One of these is an 88-word section of the Seattle Times' coverage of the Boeing 737 MAX crashes.
Microsoft said it was ‘amazed’ at the lawsuit and would be willing to discuss it with the Seattle Times. The newspaper's executive chairman, Alan Fisco, said the organization has a $2.5 million annual budget to create news products.
The companies have long backed journalism efforts with the publishers, such as a $10 million journalism AI fellowship announced in 2024.
Copyright Disputes Spread Beyond the US
The OpenAI copyright case is one of a number of lawsuits involving the use of copyrighted content in AI development.
The New York Times and other publishers are suing OpenAI and Microsoft for their own purposes in America. The US government submitted a brief on September 2 on behalf of OpenAI outlining its view that AI training is generally a fair use under US copyright law.
In other countries, analogous issues have arisen in Canada, North America, and India, Asia. In Europe, Denmark, there have also been legislative challenges to AI usage of copyrighted material, with publishers taking action.
While the OpenAI copyright case is pending, the company is still continuing to run in parallel with Microsoft under a significant commercial partnership.
Microsoft's fiscal 2026 revenue was $331.8 billion and its net income came in at $133.7 billion. It also revealed it made $24.1 billion in revenue from commercial deals with OpenAI as part of the fiscal year.
The company OpenAI is expected to have generated approximately $13 billion in revenue in 2025, per reports from Reuters. The firm is privately owned and doesn't report on its finances in the same way as Microsoft does.
The OpenAI copyright case includes both Seattle Times and Newsday in a group that is growing of copyright owners questioning the use of their content in AI training.
Source: Reuters
Pooja Malik is a business journalist with over six years of experience covering startups, entrepreneurship, and emerging trends. She has previously worked with leading media platforms such as YourStory Media and BW BusinessWorld, where she reported on business, policy, and market developments. Currently, she serves as Editor at The Inspirepreneur Magazine, where she writes and edits stories across business, lifestyle, and travel, with a focus on clarity, accuracy, and reader relevance.
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