NY Times Sues Microsoft, OpenAI Over AI Training Practices, Sparking Debate on Data Usage Rights
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The New York Times filed a major copyright infringement lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI over the use of Times articles to train AI models like ChatGPT and Microsoft's CoPilot. The Times alleges this undercuts its revenues and damages its reputation.
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Some experts believe the lawsuit could bankrupt OpenAI like the Napster case bankrupted Napster. But the article author thinks this is unlikely and expects a settlement.
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Congress could pass a new "fair learning" law that gives AI companies explicit rights to use copyrighted material for training, with compensation for creators.
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Even if OpenAI loses, its $1.6 billion+ in revenue means it can probably afford licensing fees. The era of free access to copyrighted data for AI training is ending.
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The lawsuit shows the clash between AI companies' business models and creators' commercial interests. It may be a landmark case, but has complex analogies and arguments on both sides.