The Seattle Times and Newsday have sued OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the technology companies of using their journalism without permission to train artificial intelligence systems.
The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that articles were copied from the newspapers’ websites, including material behind paywalls, and added to datasets used to develop and operate AI products.
The publishers claim the material was used in systems including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot and AI features incorporated into Bing. They allege that those tools can reproduce passages from their reporting or closely paraphrase articles, potentially reducing visits to their websites and demand for subscriptions.
Newspaper publishers seek destruction of AI training material
The Seattle Times and Newsday are seeking an order requiring the companies to destroy copies of their copyrighted work, as well as any training datasets or AI models that contain the disputed material.
Alan Fisco, president and chief executive of The Seattle Times, said the newspaper spends millions of dollars each year producing journalism and must protect it from being used without consent or payment.
OpenAI said its models are trained using publicly available data and that its practices are protected by the fair-use provisions of US copyright law. The company did not comment specifically on the new lawsuit.
Microsoft said it was surprised by the legal action but recognised the importance of local journalism and was willing to discuss possible solutions to disputes of this kind.
The case has particular significance because both newspapers have also taken part in a programme backed by OpenAI and Microsoft. The Lenfest Institute for Journalism launched the initiative in October 2024 with $10 million in support from the two technology companies, including direct funding and software credits, to help selected news organisations experiment with AI.
The lawsuit adds to a growing legal battle between publishers and AI developers over the use of copyrighted material. The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft in 2023 over similar allegations, while other authors, media organisations and rights holders have brought related cases against technology companies.
