NY Times sues OpenAI, Microsoft over copyright infringement

The news: The New York Times has sued artificial intelligence lab OpenAI and tech giant Microsoft for copyright infringement, alleging that they used the newspaper's articles without permission to help train chatbots.

The numbers: The 172-year-old newspaper is not seeking a specific amount of damages, but estimated damages in the "billions of dollars". OpenAI, creator of the popular artificial-intelligence platform ChatGPT, is owned by a nonprofit, and Microsoft invested USD13 billion in a 49% stake in a for-profit subsidiary.

The context: The Times said it is the first major US media organisation to sue OpenAI and Microsoft over copyright issues associated with its works. The newspaper's complaint, filed in Manhattan's federal court on Wednesday, accused them of trying to "free-ride” on its massive investment in its journalism by using it to provide alternative means to deliver information to readers. It wants the companies to destroy chatbot models and training sets that incorporate its material. OpenAI and Microsoft have previously said that using copyrighted works to train AI products amounts to "fair use" - a legal doctrine governing the unlicensed use of copyrighted material. More than two-thirds of the NYTimes' revenue is derived from subscriptions, while ads generate about 20%.