NYT filing: ChatGPT chief says publishers face existential threat from AI; Microsoft director calls AI training an astonishing theft
microsoft training
| Source: Techmeme | Original article
A court filing unsealed by the New York Times reveals that senior OpenAI and Microsoft executives have publicly framed the rise of large‑language models as a direct danger to the publishing sector. The document attributes a statement to the head of ChatGPT that publishers face an “existential threat” from AI, while a Microsoft director described the practice of training models on news content as “an astonishing theft.” Lawyers for the Times also allege that co‑founder Greg Brockman was driven by the “gazillions” he hoped to earn from the models.
The filing builds on earlier disclosures that OpenAI and Microsoft executives, including Brent Hecht, were aware that scraping millions of news articles could jeopardise the business model of news organisations. The Times’ lawsuit, first filed in December 2023, accuses the two firms of infringing copyright by using articles dating from 1928 to 2024 to train ChatGPT and related systems without permission.
Why it matters is twofold. First, the admissions underscore the legal vulnerability of publishers whose content fuels AI training, potentially reshaping the economics of news media. Second, the language used by OpenAI and Microsoft leadership—terms like “existential threat” and “astonishing theft”—could influence forthcoming copyright and data‑use legislation, echoing concerns raised in our Sep 18 report on the “doom loop” of LLMs eroding the web.
The next steps will hinge on how the court interprets the executives’ statements and whether they constitute evidence of willful infringement. Watch for motions on damages, possible injunctions on further data scraping, and any legislative initiatives in the EU and US that aim to codify consent‑based data use for AI training. Industry reactions from other media groups and AI firms are also likely to surface as the case progresses.
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