A federal judge in New York has cleared the way for The New York Times and other media organizations to pursue their copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, marking a key development in the ongoing battle between news publishers and AI companies.
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein's ruling on Wednesday allowed the core copyright claims to move forward while dismissing some peripheral allegations. The lawsuit centers on the unauthorized use of news articles to train AI chatbots like ChatGPT.
The New York Times alleges that OpenAI and Microsoft have improperly used billions of dollars worth of journalistic work to train their AI systems, sometimes reproducing content word-for-word when users query the chatbots.
"All of our copyright claims will continue against Microsoft and OpenAI for their widespread theft of millions of The Times's works," said New York Times attorney Ian Crosby, expressing satisfaction with the judge's decision.
The ruling was also welcomed by Frank Pine, executive editor of MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing, who emphasized that the dismissed claims do not weaken their central argument about copyright violation and business damage.
OpenAI defended its practices in a statement, saying they "build AI models using publicly available data, in a manner grounded in fair use, and supportive of innovation." The company expressed approval of the partial dismissal of claims. Microsoft declined to provide comment on the ruling.
While Judge Stein has not yet detailed his reasoning, he indicated that a full explanation would be provided soon. The case may ultimately proceed to a jury trial, potentially setting important precedents for how AI companies can use copyrighted content in training their models.
This lawsuit represents a critical clash between traditional media organizations protecting their intellectual property and AI companies pushing the boundaries of technological innovation. The outcome could shape the future relationship between news publishers and artificial intelligence developers.