The New York Times has filed for a summary judgment in its ongoing copyright lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI. The legal action, which began in late 2023, alleges that the companies used thousands of news articles without permission to train AI products like ChatGPT and Copilot.
Court documents reveal internal Microsoft communications, including a January 2023 memo from Brent Hecht, Director of Applied Science. Hecht described the training of large models as the largest theft of human labor in history, noting that it threatens the economic foundations of content providers.
Internal data from Microsoft indicates that the integration of Copilot led to a decline in click-through rates for The New York Times by as much as 93% compared to Bing search results. Hecht characterized this dynamic as a vicious cycle that harms both model performance and the internet ecosystem.
OpenAI executives and staff also expressed concerns regarding the impact on publishers. Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT, stated that AI chatbots pose an existential threat to publishers because they act as substitutes. Another researcher discussed techniques to bypass the newspaper's paywall with company president Greg Brockman.
