Two additional news organizations, The Seattle Times and Newsday, have initiated legal action against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the tech giants of utilizing their journalism to train artificial intelligence systems without permission.
In their complaint, the publications warned that the rise of AI could irreparably damage the journalism sector. They characterized generative AI as a self-destructive force—comparing it to a snake eating its own tail—that threatens to eliminate the very companies producing the content used for training.
“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 of that same original content they consumed to achieve their commercial objectives,” the lawsuit stated.
This development follows a precedent set in 2023 when The New York Times filed a similar copyright infringement suit against OpenAI and Microsoft, a case that has since inspired other publications to join the legal fight. The Seattle Times’ lawsuit carries particular significance given that Microsoft and OpenAI have previously provided funding for some of the organization’s journalism projects and fellowships.
A spokesperson for Microsoft told GeekWire that the company was “surprised by the lawsuit” but added that it remains open to dialogue, stating it is “always happy to sit down and explore solutions to this type of dispute.”
Hope this doesn’t make AI tools paywall their outputs too—then we’ll all lose either way.
Microsoft saying they’re surprised seems convenient after funding some Seattle Times projects directly.
I’ve noticed AI answers feel eerily similar to articles I read weekly. This lawsuit makes sense now.
But if AI keeps replicating newsrooms’ output, won’t journalists end up competing with themselves?
Good on them. Nobody deserves to have their work eaten without consent.