A coalition of news outlets, led by The New York Times, asked a federal judge on Thursday to sanction OpenAI for what they call a deliberate effort to hide evidence in the high-stakes copyright battle over the company's generative AI models.
The newspapers, which accuse OpenAI of using their copyrighted articles without permission to train its systems, argue that the company falsely claimed it could not search and preserve its training datasets and ChatGPT output logs. In a court filing, they assert that OpenAI's actions amount to obstruction.
“This is a case about copying,” the outlets wrote. “There is no question that it happened. Nor should there be one about what was copied, how often, or to what end. The evidence is in OpenAI's training datasets and ChatGPT output logs.”
The filing continues: “But instead of just producing that evidence at the start of the case and focusing on the merits of its fair use defense, OpenAI chose obstruction.”
The New York Times first sued OpenAI and its key backer Microsoft in December 2023, alleging copyright infringement. Other publishers filed similar lawsuits, which have since been consolidated into a single proceeding. The outlets now contend that OpenAI “intentionally hid its discovery capabilities from News Plaintiffs and the Court for two years.”
The newspapers are asking the court to rule that ChatGPT outputs show or would have shown “substantial and systematic grounding on and regurgitation” of their copyrighted material. They are also seeking attorneys' fees.
OpenAI has not yet commented on the sanction request. The company has previously argued that training its models on publicly available content is protected under the fair use doctrine, a legal framework that permits limited use of copyrighted material without permission in certain circumstances. The ChatGPT maker has also maintained that pure regurgitation of newspaper articles by its chatbot is rare.
While the litigation continues, some news organizations have taken a different route. The Associated Press struck a licensing deal with OpenAI in 2023, and Politico's parent company Axel Springer followed suit. In 2024, News Corp, which owns The Wall Street Journal, also announced a partnership with the AI firm. These agreements underscore the divide in the industry over how to handle the rise of generative AI.
The case is being watched closely by policymakers and legal experts, as it could set a precedent for how copyright law applies to AI training. The outcome may also influence ongoing debates on Capitol Hill, including discussions about tech regulation and the balance between innovation and intellectual property rights.
