The Seattle Times and Newsday have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, arguing that the companies used their journalism to train AI systems without permission. The lawsuit describes generative AI as potentially "destroying the very organizations" that produce the content it trains on, calling it "a snake eating its own tail." The filing states that "AI products like ChatGPT and CoPilot are touted as producers of content, but in fact they are rapacious consumers, devouring human-authored content and delivering back to the world copies and derivative imitations."
This lawsuit follows The New York Times filing suit against OpenAI and Microsoft in 2023 over alleged copyright infringement, with other publications subsequently following suit. The case has continued to draw attention as more news organizations challenge AI companies over training data.
The Seattle Times lawsuit carries particular significance because Microsoft and OpenAI have previously funded some of the organization's journalism projects and fellowships. A Microsoft spokesperson told GeekWire the company is "surprised by the lawsuit" but indicated openness to "sit down and explore solutions to this type of dispute."