NYT and OpenAI clash over content
A battle between the titans of media and AI over copyright could have a significant impact on the future of both sectors.
A fight has erupted between the world's most famous newspaper and the market-leading generative artificial intelligence platform — and neither side is taking a backward step. The unfolding dispute between the New York Times and Open AI has the potential to shape the relationship between content creators and tech platforms, at a time of rapid advances in AI and concerns about its impact on an already shaky information landscape.
As Laurel Henning and John Buckley reported this week, worries about AI in Australia dominated a series of copyright roundtables hosted by the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus late last year and attended by representatives from the local creative sector, who are concerned that carveouts in the law could give AI platforms unfettered access to their content.
Then the New York Times sued Open AI over alleged copyright breaches. OpenAI, which operates ChatGPT, fired back overnight, dismissing the 'Gray Lady’s' claims and accusing it of manipulating the platform to get it to regurgitate its journalism. The clearest sign of the gravity of this dispute is that the New York Times is actually throwing punches. In the last big battle between the global news media and big tech over the use of content it sat on the sidelines.
For years, news publishers led by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp pushed hard for Google and Facebook to compensate them for “using” their content by displaying links in search results and newsfeeds. The NYT largely stayed out of that effort, instead focusing on building out its now vast subscription business.
