News nonprofit alleges copyright infringement in lawsuit against OpenAI, Microsoft

The Center for Investigative Reporting has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft alleging copyright infringement in a new fight against unauthorized use of news content in building artificial intelligence (AI).

The news nonprofit, which produces Mother Jones and Reveal, alleges in the lawsuit that OpenAI, the creator of the popular ChatGPT tool, used its content without permission or offering compensation.

OpenAI’s platforms are trained using human works and in particular, human-made journalism, to “attempt to mimic how humans write and speak,” the lawsuit said.

Filed in the Southern District of New York, the suit argues that the company attempts to compete for the attention of consumers to earn profit. It said Open AI has used “hundreds of thousands, if not millions” of journalistic articles, undermining the Center for Investigative Reporting’s standing with the public.

Monika Bauerlein, the nonprofit’s CEO, told The Associated Press that “it’s immensely dangerous.”

“Our existence relies on users finding our work valuable and deciding to support it,” she said, voicing concerns that users will now create a relationship with the AI tool instead.

The AI companies are battling other copyright lawsuits from various news organizations that also argue their work has been used without permission to “fuel the commercialization” of AI.

The AP noted that instead of battling the new AI wave, some news organizations are partnering with them. For example, Time magazine announced Thursday that OpenAI will be receiving access to its archives over the last 100 years.

The Hill has reached out to OpenAI and Microsoft for comment.