OpenAI and Microsoft are facing another copyright lawsuit from major US news organizations over how their artificial intelligence systems are trained.
The Seattle Times and Newsday filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York. The publishers accuse the companies of using content from their websites to train AI systems without permission.
According to the newspapers, the companies used paywalled articles in the training of ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and the AI-powered Bing.
Newspapers accuse AI companies of copying articles
The publishers claim AI chatbots can reproduce large sections of their journalists’ work or closely rewrite published articles.
They argue that such outputs could allow users to access material that newspapers spend significant resources producing, including content that normally sits behind a paywall.
The lawsuit asks the court to require the companies to delete copies of the publishers’ material. It also seeks the removal of training data and AI models that contain the disputed content.
Seattle Times president and CEO Alan Fisco defended the decision to take legal action.
“We feel strongly that we must defend our content,” Fisco wrote in a message to employees. He said the newspaper spends millions of dollars each year producing its journalism and wants protection from unauthorized use.
OpenAI and Microsoft respond
OpenAI has rejected the central allegation, saying it trains its models using publicly available material under fair-use principles.
Microsoft said it was surprised by the lawsuit. However, the company also indicated that it remains willing to meet with the publishers to discuss possible solutions.
The dispute adds to a growing legal battle over the use of copyrighted material to develop generative AI.
Publishers and technology companies have increasingly clashed over whether AI firms can use news articles, books and other copyrighted works to train their systems without obtaining permission or paying licensing fees.
New York Times case remains ongoing
OpenAI and Microsoft are already facing other copyright claims from publishers, including an ongoing case involving The New York Times.
The newspaper has argued that AI products can compete directly with traditional news organizations by reproducing or closely copying their reporting.
The Times maintains that such use does not qualify for fair-use protection when the AI systems provide material that closely resembles its original journalism.
The companies have disputed those claims and continue to defend their use of training data.
DOJ raises national security concerns
The legal dispute has also attracted attention from the Trump administration.
Last week, the US Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest in the New York Times case. The DOJ argued that a ruling against the AI companies could have consequences for local newsrooms and independent journalism.
According to the filing, AI tools could help smaller publishers compete with larger media organizations.
The government also warned that restricting AI development could have broader implications. The DOJ said a victory for The New York Times could “threaten national security” by slowing progress in artificial intelligence and potentially benefiting foreign competitors.
The administration has made similar arguments in other efforts involving legal challenges to AI infrastructure and data centers.
For publishers, however, the central issue remains control over their journalism. The latest lawsuit could add further pressure on OpenAI and Microsoft as courts continue to determine how copyright law applies to rapidly developing AI technology.
