Microsoft Executive Warns AI Could Harm News Industry
A legal brief unsealed in a copyright lawsuit reveals that Microsoft's director of applied science, Brent Hecht, described OpenAI’s use of news content to train its models as the 'largest theft of labor in human history.' The New York Times filed this suit against Microsoft and OpenAI in 2023 for allegedly using millions of their copyrighted articles without permission. According to court documents, an internal statement from ChatGPT's head at OpenAI acknowledged that AI products pose an existential threat to publishers by substituting original content. The lawsuit argues that the companies are leveraging The Times' investment in quality journalism to build competing AI tools like Copilot and ChatGPT without payment. Other media outlets have joined this consolidated legal effort, including the New York Daily News, Center for Investigative Reporting, Intercept, Ziff Davis, Chicago Tribune, and Orlando Sentinel. Microsoft and OpenAI maintain that their use of news content falls under fair use law, which protects transformative works. However, The Times is using internal statements from AI executives to challenge this defense, arguing it undermines incentives for human creativity.
Topics: AI Copyright Law Microsoft OpenAI The New York Times