Late last year, The New York Times and other major publishers filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of using their copyrighted materials to train AI algorithms without permission. Recently, it was revealed that OpenAI engineers accidentally deleted data that could have served as evidence in the case.
Lawyers for the news outlets reportedly spent over 150 hours analyzing OpenAI’s training data, aiming to identify instances where AI algorithms may have used copyrighted articles. However, the exact nature of the deleted information remains unclear. While OpenAI acknowledged the mistake and attempted to recover the data, the restoration was incomplete. The recovered data does not conclusively show whether the publications’ content was used for training the algorithms. OpenAI’s lawyers referred to the data loss as a “glitch,” but The New York Times stated there was “no reason to believe” the deletion was intentional.
Legal and Financial Impact
In December, The New York Times accused OpenAI and its major partner, Microsoft, of developing AI tools by “copying and using millions of articles” from its archives. The publication is pursuing legal action to seek “billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages” for alleged copyright violations. To date, The New York Times has spent over $1 million on the legal battle.
Despite the ongoing lawsuit, OpenAI has successfully negotiated agreements with several other publishers, including Axel Springer, Conde Nast, and Vox Media, notes NIX Solutions. These settlements highlight a preference among some media companies to collaborate with AI developers rather than engage in lengthy court disputes.
This case underscores the growing tension between content creators and AI developers over data usage and intellectual property rights. We’ll keep you updated as more developments and potential resolutions unfold.