Eight US newspapers sue OpenAI, Microsoft over illegal content usage

Alden Global Capital’s eight newspapers in the US sued OpenAI and Microsoft over allegations that the two companies illegally used their content to fuel their AI chatbots. The dailies The New York Daily News, The Denver Post, The Chicago Tribune, The San Jose Mercury News, The Orlando Sentinel, The Sun Sentinel of Florida, The St. Paul Pioneer Press, and The Orange County Register filed the case in the Federal Court of the US Southern District of New York.  

The complaint mentions Microsoft and OpenAI used millions of copyrighted news articles without seeking permission from the newspapers to train their AI tools ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. The chatbots often display text from subscription-only articles without a backlink to the source.   

The publications are seeking a jury trial and fair compensation for using their news articles. Some companies have struck a deal with OpenAI and Microsoft to allow paid access to their content.