# AI training built on fair use looks shaky when the companies' own people call it "astonishing theft"

> Source: <https://the-decoder.com/ai-training-built-on-fair-use-looks-shaky-when-the-companies-own-people-call-it-astonishing-theft/>
> Published: 2026-09-18 15:27:29+00:00

Internal emails and sworn testimony undercut OpenAI and Microsoft's fair use defense. A Microsoft director described the practice as the "largest theft of labor in human history," while OpenAI's head of ChatGPT wrote that the products "are largely substitutive, period."

The article [AI training built on fair use looks shaky when the companies' own people call it "astonishing theft"](https://the-decoder.com/ai-training-built-on-fair-use-looks-shaky-when-the-companies-own-people-call-it-astonishing-theft/) appeared first on [The Decoder](https://the-decoder.com).