Microsoft court filings: Publisher‑hired expert finds only about 60,000 of 8.2 million Copilot chats share at least 16 words with news content
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| Source: Techmeme | Original article
An expert hired by publishers testified that fewer than 1% of over 8 million Microsoft Copilot chats—about 60,000—contained 16 or more words matching news content.
Microsoft’s latest court filings reveal that an expert commissioned by a coalition of publishers has quantified the extent to which its Copilot AI reproduces news content. Analyzing more than 8 million user‑generated chat logs, the expert identified roughly 60 000 instances—just under one percent—where a Copilot response contained at least 16 words that matched the text of a news article.
The finding arrives amid ongoing litigation accusing Microsoft of infringing publishers’ copyrights by training Copilot on news articles without permission. By showing that only a tiny fraction of interactions appear to “regurgitate” verbatim excerpts, Microsoft hopes to argue that the system’s outputs are largely transformative and do not constitute unlawful copying. For the publishers, the data provides a benchmark for assessing the scale of alleged misuse and may shape arguments about damages and the need for licensing agreements.
What comes next will hinge on how the court interprets the significance of the 60 000 matches. Judges may consider whether the threshold of 16 overlapping words is a meaningful metric, or whether even limited verbatim reuse could trigger liability under existing copyright law. Both sides are likely to present additional technical analyses, and the case could set a precedent for how generative AI tools are evaluated for content infringement. Observers will also watch for any settlement talks or policy shifts by Microsoft, such as tighter content filters or new licensing deals with news organisations.
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