{"slug": "nyt-accuses-microsoft-and-openai-of-knowingly-stealing-news-content-in-new-court", "title": "NYT accuses Microsoft and OpenAI of knowingly stealing news content in new court document", "summary": "The New York Times alleged in a court document unsealed Thursday that OpenAI committed \"an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions\" by scraping more than 10 million news articles — nearly a third from the Times — to train its AI models, according to the filing. The document cites Microsoft Director of Applied Science Brent Hect, whose statements Microsoft called \"one employee's individual perspective\" that \"do not represent the company's views.\" The Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft three years ago in New York federal court, joined by publishers including Ziff Davis, Mother Jones' parent company, The Intercept and local newspapers; the plaintiffs seek damages per article and have requested summary judgment from US District Judge Sidney Stein, with a ruling not expected until 2027.", "body_md": "## NYT accuses Microsoft and OpenAI of knowingly stealing news content in new court document\n\nNew York, New York - **OpenAI committed \"an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions\" when it used millions of news articles to train its** [artificial intelligence](https://www.tag24.com/en/tech/artificial-intelligence) **models, the New York Times alleged in a** [court](https://www.tag24.com/en/justice) **document unsealed on Thursday.**\n\nThe San Francisco-based artificial intelligence lab scraped content from more than 10 million articles, nearly a third of which came from the New York Times alone.\n\nThe document claims Microsoft's Director of Applied Science Brent Hect called it \"an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions\" and possibly the \"largest theft of labor in human history.\"\n\nHect also allegedly warned that OpenAI might have engaged in an \"accidental cover up\" in its attempts to identify content in its systems that came from the New York Times and the lawsuit's other plaintiffs.\n\nMicrosoft considers Hect's statements the opinions of \"one employee’s individual perspective\" and they \"do not represent the company’s views,\" a spokesperson for Microsoft told AFP in a statement.\n\nThe newspaper [sued OpenAI and Microsoft](https://www.tag24.com/en/justice/new-york-times-sues-openai-and-microsoft-in-major-escalation-of-battle-over-chatgpt-3050372) three years ago in New York federal court for allegedly stealing its copyrighted material to train OpenAI's flagship model, ChatGPT. Microsoft first invested in OpenAI in 2019.\n\nSeveral other news publishers also joined the lawsuit, including Ziff Davis – which owns CNET and other tech news publications – as well as the parent company of the magazine Mother Jones, the investigative news site The Intercept, and multiple local newspapers across the country.\n\n**They are seeking damages for each article that was allegedly stolen and used by OpenAI's models, though it is unclear what the total amount of penalties could reach.**\n\n### Trump's DOJ sides with OpenAI and Microsoft\n\nOpenAI has signed content licensing deals with many news publishers around the world since it launched ChatGPT in late 2022, but concerns persist that generative AI software is reducing traffic to internet news sites.\n\nAI companies have tried to alleviate those concerns by adding citations with links to user queries, but the effort has been criticized as insufficient.\n\n\"No matter how prominently we show the links, users won't click,\" one of OpenAI's own engineers admitted, according to the court document.\n\nMicrosoft and OpenAI argue that their use of news content is transformative and falls under \"fair use\" laws.\n\nIn early September, the Department of Justice filed a [brief in support of OpenAI and Microsoft](https://www.tag24.com/en/justice/trump-administration-sides-with-openai-in-new-york-times-copyright-lawsuit-3529504), in which it invoked \"scientific progress,\" economic growth, and \"national security.\"\n\n**The plaintiffs have requested a summary judgment in their favor. If granted by US District Judge Sidney Stein, the case would not go to trial, but a ruling is not expected until 2027.**\n\nCover photo: REUTERS", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/nyt-accuses-microsoft-and-openai-of-knowingly-stealing-news-content-in-new-court", "canonical_source": "https://www.tag24.com/en/justice/nyt-accuses-microsoft-and-openai-of-knowingly-stealing-news-content-in-new-court-document-3533226", "published_at": "2026-09-18 10:03:10+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-18 10:56:25.793179+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-policy", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["New York Times", "OpenAI", "Microsoft", "Brent Hect", "ChatGPT", "Ziff Davis", "US Department of Justice", "Sidney Stein"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/nyt-accuses-microsoft-and-openai-of-knowingly-stealing-news-content-in-new-court", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/nyt-accuses-microsoft-and-openai-of-knowingly-stealing-news-content-in-new-court.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/nyt-accuses-microsoft-and-openai-of-knowingly-stealing-news-content-in-new-court.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/nyt-accuses-microsoft-and-openai-of-knowingly-stealing-news-content-in-new-court.jsonld"}}