Nearly 400 local newspaper publishers have joined forces to sue OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the tech giants of building billion-dollar AI products on copyrighted journalism without permission—or paying the reporters and publishers who created it.
The sweeping federal class action, filed on Wednesday, June 24, and obtained by Bloomberg Law, alleges that OpenAI and Microsoft copied reporting from hundreds of local newspapers to train ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot while stripping away copyright management information, including author bylines, copyright notices, and terms of use. The coalition, represented by former New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin's law firm, argues the companies violated both the Copyright Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by using original reporting to develop commercial AI systems.
“This lawsuit is not about stopping AI innovation, but ensuring that innovation happens fairly and within the bounds of the law,” Platkin said in a statement. He argued that local reporters—not AI systems—are the people covering city council meetings, investigating corruption, reporting on public safety, writing obituaries, and documenting the day-to-day events that hold communities together. “Local newspapers are the lifeblood of the communities they serve and among the most trusted institutions in America,” he added.
The lawsuit marks the largest coordinated legal challenge yet from local and regional publishers against OpenAI. While national outlets, authors, musicians, and other copyright holders have previously taken legal action over AI training practices, this case dramatically expands the fight by bringing together nearly 400 newspapers that collectively produce decades of original reporting on shoestring budgets.
The complaint also cites remarks made by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during testimony before the British House of Lords, in which he acknowledged that it would be “impossible to train today's leading AI models without using copyrighted materials.” Plaintiffs argue that admission underscores how dependent modern AI systems have been on professionally produced journalism.
The new lawsuit lands during an already turbulent period for Altman and OpenAI. In recent months, Altman has faced criticism for the company's aggressive AI spending strategy after billionaire investor Mark Cuban argued that OpenAI would never recoup the enormous sums being invested in infrastructure.