AI Newspaper Battle: Publishers Fight ChatGPT and Copilot
Tech Giants Accused of Digital Copyright Infringement
Los Angeles, CA – Eight prominent U.S. newspaper publishers have joined forces to file a lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI, accusing the technology giants of unauthorized use and misattribution of copyright-protected content.
Unauthorized Content Usage
The publishers allege that ChatGPT, Microsoft’s conversational chatbot, and Copilot, an AI-powered coding assistant, have been “purloining” articles from their newspapers without permission or compensation. This unauthorized content, they argue, violates their copyright.
Specifically, the complaint points out instances where ChatGPT and Copilot have reproduced significant portions of the publishers’ articles verbatim or repurposed information without proper attribution. This alleged infringement has been facilitated by the training of OpenAI’s large language models on datasets that include the publishers’ content.
Lack of Attribution and Lost Revenue
The publishers also take issue with the lack of attribution in the AI outputs. Copilot’s suggestions, despite drawing from newspaper articles, often fail to provide links to the original source. This deprives publishers of advertising revenue from readers who would otherwise visit their websites.
Previous Lawsuits and Settlement Deals
The lawsuit follows a similar action by The New York Times against OpenAI in 2023. That case centered on the use of the newspaper’s articles in ChatGPT’s training data. OpenAI later apologized and stated its intention to support a “healthy news ecosystem.”
In response to the current complaints, Google has announced an agreement with Reddit that allows it to train AI models on the platform’s content. However, Microsoft and OpenAI have yet to respond to the matter.
AI and the Copyright Dilemma
The rise of AI and its capacity to generate text has sparked concerns about copyright infringement. The newspaper publishers’ lawsuit highlights the potential for conflict between publishers and tech companies that rely on copyrighted content for training AI.
Finding a balance between innovation and protecting intellectual property is a crucial challenge for the future of AI. As the debate continues, it will be essential to strike a compromise that promotes technological progress while respecting copyright rights.
Data sourced from: cnbc.com
