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OpenAI, Microsoft Sued for Copyright Violations

By Laura Tucker
Openai Sued Copyright Violations Featured

Artificial intelligence is really exploding in the tech world, especially in the past few months. But it may not be headed in the right direction, as OpenAI and Microsoft are being sued by the Center for Investigative Reporting for copyright violations.

Center for Investigative Reporting Launches Lawsuit

Every app, web app, software, and website you frequent seems to be picking up AI capabilities. Every day, it seems another one is announcing that it’s upgrading and adding AI to the mix. But perhaps they’re all getting ahead of the game.

Much of the AI trend is going back to OpenAI. Many of the apps, websites, etc., using AI are using an OpenAI product in some manner. While Elon Musk co-founded the company, then later sued it for the direction it was taking, Microsoft is now the largest shareholder.

Openai Sued Copyright Violations Artifiical Intelligence
Image source: Unsplash

If you’ve ever asked yourself how AI does it, how it writes the very content you were looking for so quickly, the Center for Investigative Reporting thinks it has the answer. CIR produces the *Mother Jones* and *Reveal* news outlets.

The CIR is suing both OpenAI and Microsoft in federal court for copyright violations. CIR refers to itself as the oldest nonprofit newsroom in the United States. It said in an article posted to Mother Jones that it has registered its copyright for nearly 50 years for its “unique coverage focused on investigative reporting.”

The lawsuit charges that CIR’s content is being used by OpenAI without permission or an offer of compensation. Also mentioned in the lawsuit is the way AI’s summaries threaten publishers.

Openai Suing Copyright Violations News Organization
Image source: Unsplash

“OpenAI and Microsoft started vacuuming up our stories to make their product more powerful, but they never asked for permission or offered compensation, unlike other organizations that license our material,” said Monika Bauerlein, CEO of the Center for Investigative Reporting.

“This free rider behavior is not only unfair, it is a violation of copyright. The work of journalists, at CIR and everywhere, is valuable, and OpenAI and Microsoft know it.”

FYI: find out how AI is affecting the gaming industry.

Center for Investigative Reporting Isn’t Alone

Specific instances of the copyright violations were not mentioned in the Mother Jones article, leaving it unclear if there is one instance of stolen content or many instances.

It’s entirely possible that there are many instances, as OpenAI and Microsoft are also being sued by the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News, Denver Post, The Intercept, AlterNet, and Raw Story.

The question at this point is whether artificial intelligence has already taken too much of a lead in this game. Even the new Apple Intelligence will borrow from ChatGPT, an OpenAI product. Can everything OpenAI is behind be backtracked at this point?

If not, will OpenAI and Microsoft just have to pay for any content that artificial intelligence scrapes up? You may want to grab some popcorn, as it looks like it will be interesting. In the meantime, perhaps you want to use Claude Pro instead of ChatGPT.

Image credit: Unsplash

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Laura Tucker Avatar
Laura Tucker
Laura has spent more than 20 years writing news, reviews, and op-eds, with the majority of those years as an editor as well. She has exclusively used Apple products for the past 35 years. In addition to writing and editing at MTE, she also runs the site’s sponsored review program.

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