Microsoft and its generative AI partner OpenAI are facing further lawsuits over their use of ChatGPT and Copilot. Raw Story, The Intercept, and AlterNet news sites filed separate lawsuits against the two companies, but they all used the same law firm, The Verge reported.
Both news companies claim that OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which is also used by Microsoft’s chatbot Copilot, copies articles from their sites as part of its AI training. The news organization also claims that when it reprints articles, it does not display “any author, title, copyright, or terms of use information contained in those works.”
Alternet and Raw Story argue that ChatGPT would not have become as popular if people had known that chatbots were infringing on Story copyrights. They also point out that website owners can ask OpenAI not to access their sites for training on ChatGPT, which both OpenAI and Microsoft believe ChatGPT infringes on the copyrights of their works. They argue that this means they knew it was possible.
Back in December 2023, The New York Times filed a similar lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft. The newspaper and website organization also claimed that ChatGPT illegally accessed “millions of articles published by The Times.”
But this week, OpenAI filed a countersuit claiming that the New York Times actually hired someone to hack OpenAI’s services. The unidentified hacker then exploited the bug using deceptive text prompts in the chatbot, resulting in responses like: News outlets revealed this in the initial lawsuit.
A major legal battle between Microsoft and OpenAI appears set to take place in court against news organizations that feel their content is being accessed illegally. The final outcome of these court proceedings could determine whether these news sites have the right to keep stories away from generative AI services.
