The Seattle Times and Newsday have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the companies used their journalism without permission to train AI models. The suit argues that generative AI threatens to fundamentally undermine the news industry, describing the technology as consuming original journalism and returning derivative versions of that same content back into the market for commercial purposes.
The case adds to a growing wave of copyright litigation against OpenAI and Microsoft that began in 2023, when The New York Times filed a similar lawsuit accusing the companies of using its content without authorization to train ChatGPT. Several other publications have since joined the legal effort.
The Seattle Times’ involvement is notable given that Microsoft and OpenAI have previously provided funding for some of the publication’s journalism initiatives and fellowships. A Microsoft spokesperson said the company was surprised by the lawsuit but remained open to discussing potential resolutions to the dispute.
