Seattle Times and Newsday File Major Lawsuit Against AI Giants

Two prominent news outlets, Seattle Times and Newsday, have initiated legal action against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging unauthorized use of their journalistic content to train artificial intelligence systems.

The lawsuit, filed by The Seattle Times alongside Newsday, articulates concerns that the rise of AI technology could lead to irreversible damage within the journalism sector. The legal claim describes generative AI as “a snake eating its own tail,” suggesting that it threatens to obliterate the very institutions responsible for creating the content it relies upon.

According to the lawsuit, “AI products like ChatGPT and CoPilot are marketed as content creators, yet they are, in reality, voracious consumers, feasting on human-generated material and repackaging it as mere copies and derivative works to fulfill their commercial goals.” This assertion underscores the tensions between technological advancement and the preservation of original journalistic integrity.

Earlier in 2023, The New York Times took similar legal steps against OpenAI and its strategic ally Microsoft, claiming copyright violations. This recent lawsuit from The Seattle Times holds particular significance, as it highlights the financial connections between Microsoft, OpenAI, and the journalistic initiatives funded by these tech giants.

In response to this legal challenge, a representative from Microsoft commented to GeekWire that the company is “taken aback by the lawsuit” but remains “open to discussions aimed at resolving such conflicts.”