tl;dr
OpenAI is challenging a federal court order requiring it to preserve all user data, including deleted chats, in a copyright lawsuit filed by The New York Times. The lawsuit alleges OpenAI and Microsoft illegally used Times content to train AI models, infringing copyrights and threatening journalism'...
OpenAI is appealing a federal court order that mandates the preservation of all user data, including deleted chats, amid a copyright lawsuit filed by The New York Times. The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI and Microsoft used Times content without authorization to train AI models, infringing copyrights and threatening the traditional journalism business model.
The central issue revolves around whether the use of copyrighted materials for AI training qualifies as "fair use." The New York Times claims that OpenAI’s AI tools sometimes reproduce near-verbatim content from its articles and circumvent paywalls through AI-generated summaries. OpenAI denies these allegations, arguing that The Times selectively used data to support its case.
The May 13 court order requires OpenAI to "preserve and segregate all output log data that would otherwise be deleted," which OpenAI contests as an overreach, stressing its commitment to user trust and privacy. OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap emphasized ongoing appeals to maintain privacy protections.
This lawsuit forms part of a wider wave of legal challenges involving AI companies, data rights, privacy, and intellectual property. Other media entities like Ziff Davis have sued OpenAI for similar reasons, accusing it of unconsented use of content. Additionally, Reddit has filed a lawsuit against AI company Anthropic for scraping Reddit data without permission, with Anthropic also facing lawsuits from music publishers and authors.
The escalating court battles highlight the evolving tensions between emerging AI technologies, copyright law, and the sustainability of original content creation in the digital age.