The Chicago Tribune and seven other national news outlets are suing OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the tech companies extracted data from millions of copyrighted articles to develop their respective artificial intelligence platforms ChatGPT and Copilot, according to a report by the Tribune.
The lawsuit claims the two tech companies appropriated the Tribune’s original reporting, building their AI platforms on the plagiarized content. The news organizations also allege that OpenAI and Microsoft omitted the names of journalists and other important copyright information when citing articles in their generative AI output, according to Axios.
The suit also alleges that OpenAI and Microsoft’s AI platforms have harmed the credibility of the various publications by improperly attributing false information to the newspapers, according to Axios.
In one example, ChatGPT’s generated content falsely claimed the Denver Post had published research that suggested smoking can cure asthma.
On a separate occasion, an AI response claimed the Chicago Tribune had previously recommended a recalled baby lounger linked to infant deaths when the Tribune made no such recommendations.
According to the Tribune, the lawsuit was filed on Tuesday morning in the Southern District of New York on behalf of multiple publications owned by Tribune Publishing and MediaNews Group, as well as the New York Daily News. The lawsuit is the second major case of its kind, following a similar lawsuit by the New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft in 2023, according to Axios.
News companies, which have historically struggled in the internet era, could greatly benefit from future regulations on AI data sourcing. Publications have relied on search engine traffic to drive revenue in the digital age, but the introduction of AI has threatened this traffic, according to Axios.
The publications reportedly aim to make a deal with OpenAI and Microsoft that would sufficiently compensate the news organizations for the use of their original copyrighted materials in AI development.
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