The New York Times Sues OpenAI and Microsoft for Billions in Damages

The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of copyright infringement. The publication claims that millions of its articles have been unlawfully used to train chatbots, including ChatGPT.

While the lawsuit does not specify an exact amount for damages, it states that the defendants should be liable for "billions of dollars in damages" suffered by the publication due to the illegal use of its materials. The lawsuit also indicates that the chatbots trained on NYT articles now compete with news agencies, prompting the newspaper to call for the "destruction" of all chatbot models that have used its content.

The newspaper details that it reached out to OpenAI and Microsoft back in April regarding the unlawful use of its intellectual property but was unable to reach an agreement with the companies. An OpenAI spokesperson, Lindsey Held, commented to The Verge that the company respects the rights of content creators and owners and aims to work with them on mutually beneficial terms. She also added that she is "surprised and disappointed" by the lawsuit from NYT, as there had been "effective and constructive" negotiations between the companies.

This is not the first lawsuit against OpenAI related to the training of ChatGPT. For instance, in September, a guild of authors accused the company of copyright infringement and "massive coordinated theft." The lawsuit specifically claimed that developers used books downloaded from pirate e-libraries for ChatGPT's training. Among the authors joining the lawsuit was George R.R. Martin, creator of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.