{"slug": "microsoft-director-privately-admitted-ai-was-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human", "title": "Microsoft Director Privately Admitted AI Was the “Largest Theft of Labor in Human History,” Unsealed Court Documents Show", "summary": "Unsealed court documents in the New York Times' copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft quote Microsoft director of applied science Brent Hecht calling the AI buildout the \"largest theft of labor in human history\" and OpenAI cofounder and president Greg Brockman saying publishers face an \"existential threat\" from generative AI. The motion, filed on behalf of the NYT and flagged by digital media advocate Jason Kint, argues these admissions \"eviscerate\" the defendants' fair use defense; the NYT accuses the two AI labs of copying millions of its copyrighted articles in their entirety without permission. The case, filed in 2023, is expected to have a ruling on whether it proceeds to trial by sometime in 2027.", "body_md": "The threat of perjury has a funny way of forcing people to say the quiet parts out loud.\n\nAs a recently [unsealed and unredacted motion](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.640396/gov.uscourts.nysd.640396.1977.1.pdf) in the ongoing legal battle between the *New York Times* and OpenAI and Microsoft shows, top AI executives have admitted that training AI models required “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions.”\n\nIn the motion filed on behalf of the *NYT*, [flagged](https://x.com/jason_kint/status/2100611139906228629?s=20) by digital media advocate Jason Kint, attorneys used the quotes of Microsoft director of applied science Brent Hecht and OpenAI cofounder and president Greg Brockman to essentially argue their case for them: that the AI industry built its foundation on an unfathomably large pile of [stolen intellectual property](https://futurism.com/the-byte/microsoft-ceo-ai-open-web).\n\nHecht, for his part, is quoted calling the AI buildout the “largest theft of labor in human history.” It’s a damning admission as the *NYT* accuses the two AI labs of copying “millions of [the] Plaintiffs’ copyrighted articles in their entirety without permission to produce substitutive commercial AI products.”\n\nBrockman, for his part, is quoted saying that “publishers” face an “existential threat” from generative AI, which “are largely substitutive, period, [and] will get more and more substitutive as they get better.”\n\nAs the plaintiff’s counsel argues, these admissions “eviscerate” any claim to fair use — a statement with which Hecht evidently agrees.\n\n“For Defendants to prevail on this defense ‘would,’ the same Microsoft executive recognized, arguably “make a complete mockery of the idea of ‘fair use,'” the motion reveals.\n\nThe damning documents come during the [middle stretch](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/york-times-openai-microsoft-clash-172300022.html) of a case that began in 2023, when the *NYT* accused the two AI labs not only of vacuuming up its original news content, but of using that content to train AI products meant to compete with traditional news outlets.\n\nAs [*Axios* recently reported](https://www.axios.com/2026/09/08/nyt-openai-microsoft-copyright-lawsuit), the battle is far from over, as the presiding judge is expected to decide whether to allow the case to proceed to trial by sometime in 2027.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/microsoft-director-privately-admitted-ai-was-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human", "canonical_source": "https://futurism.com/future-society/microsoft-admitted-ai-theft-labor-human-history-court-lawsuit", "published_at": "2026-09-17 21:46:08+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-17 21:53:32.838520+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-ethics", "generative-ai", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Microsoft", "OpenAI", "New York Times", "Brent Hecht", "Greg Brockman", "Jason Kint", "Axios"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/microsoft-director-privately-admitted-ai-was-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/microsoft-director-privately-admitted-ai-was-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/microsoft-director-privately-admitted-ai-was-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/microsoft-director-privately-admitted-ai-was-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human.jsonld"}}