Eight well-known newspapers owned by funding firm Alden Global Capital have filed a complaint against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging trademark infringement in a move that could change the connection between news producers and AI companies.
According to Forbes, the legal fight grew worse on Tuesday when the lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York. It was the most recent instance of a growing conflict between tech firms and media agencies regarding the use of protected content to teach artificial intelligence designs.
Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., speaks with members of the media during the Allen &, Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, US, on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The newspapers involved in the lawsuit are some of the most prominent newspapers in the Alden Global Capital portfolio, including the New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun Sentinel, San Jose Mercury News, Denver Post, Orange County Register, and St. Paul Pioneer Press. The New York Times is suing them separately for the same reason that they are being represented by the same law firm that represents them in a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft.
The complaint’s alleged intent is at the heart of the claim that Microsoft and OpenAI have been “purloining millions of the Publishers ‘ copyrighted articles without permission and without payment” to encourage the commercialization of their generative AI products, such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. The media reports that the tech giants have removed important metadata from the content used to train their AI models, including journalists ‘ names and article titles.
The lawsuit cites instances where ChatGPT has fabricated or misrepresented information, claiming, for instance, that the Denver Post published research suggesting smoking could treat asthma, which the newspaper vehemently refutes. In the same vein, the lawsuit claims that ChatGPT falsely attributed a suggestion for a recalled and potentially dangerous baby lounger to the Chicago Tribune.
Concerns have been raised by these instances of “hallucinations,” as they are known in the AI industry, regarding the reputational damage that misinformation might cause to well-known news outlets. The newspapers claim that Microsoft and OpenAI have used their trademarks without permission, which only adds to the controversy surrounding the alleged infringement.
The outcome of this legal dispute might have profound effects on the news media and its compensation structure in the AI era. Publishers are grappling with the potential loss of advertising revenue from search results, which have been a crucial source of income for 20 years, as generative AI tools threaten to disrupt the flow of online traffic to news websites.
While some news organizations including the , Financial Times have opted to strike lucrative deals with AI firms, allowing the use of their content in exchange for millions of dollars annually, others, like Alden Global Capital’s newspapers, have chosen to pursue legal action. The decision of these major newspapers to file lawsuits against Microsoft and OpenAI together with the New York Times significantly strengthens the claims of copyright infringement and sets the stage for a contentious legal battle that could change the rules of engagement between news publishers and AI companies.
Read more at Axios here.
For Breitbart News, Lucas Nolan reports on issues involving free speech and online censorship.
