Microsoft Executive Describes AI Scraping as 'Theft of Unprecedented Proportions'
In court documents unredacted on September 17, 2026, Microsoft's Director of Applied Science, Brent Hecht, referred to the practice of training large language models using scraped content as a form of theft that could be seen globally. The comments were cited by lawyers for The New York Times in its copyright infringement lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI. Hecht noted that most people did not intend their work to be used this way nor are they compensated, highlighting ethical concerns around AI training data usage. The Orlando Sentinel also reported on the case, stating that a Microsoft filing portrayed Hecht as an internal critic of company practices related to AI scraping. The lawsuit raises broader questions about intellectual property rights in the context of artificial intelligence development and how content is used without explicit consent or compensation for creators.
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Topics: AI Copyright Law Microsoft OpenAI Policy