Eight major newspapers owned by Alden Global Capital have taken legal action against tech giants OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of unlawfully using news articles to power their A.I. chatbots. The newspapers, including The New York Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, and The Denver Post, filed a complaint in federal court in New York, alleging that the tech companies used millions of copyrighted articles without permission to train their generative A.I. products.
The lawsuit does not specify monetary damages but demands a jury trial and compensation for the unauthorized use of content. The publications claim that the chatbots displayed entire articles behind paywalls without proper attribution, reducing the need for readers to subscribe to support local newspapers and depriving publishers of revenue.
Frank Pine, the executive editor overseeing Alden’s newspapers, stated, “We can’t allow OpenAI and Microsoft to expand the Big Tech playbook of stealing our work to build their own businesses at our expense.” This legal action adds to the ongoing debate over the use of data to power generative A.I., with tech companies facing scrutiny for potentially skirting copyright laws to obtain data for training chatbots.
The lawsuit also highlights instances where the chatbots provided inaccurate information, tarnishing the newspapers’ reputations and spreading dangerous misinformation. The newspapers accuse OpenAI and Microsoft of copyright infringement, unfair competition, and trademark dilution, emphasizing the broader implications for civic life in America.
This legal battle underscores the growing tension between traditional media outlets and tech companies over the use of copyrighted content in the development of A.I. technologies. It remains to be seen how this case will impact the future of data usage and intellectual property rights in the digital age.
