Court Filing Reveals Microsoft, OpenAI Worries Over AI Scraping in NYT Suit

The New York Times has filed a legal brief that surfaces internal statements from Microsoft and OpenAI as part of its copyright infringement case against the two companies, according to reporting from Tom's Hardware, Decrypt and Engadget.

The newspaper sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement in late 2023. Tom's Hardware reported that the case remains ongoing almost three years later, and that the Times has now asked the court for a summary judgment after submitting the brief, which draws on documents and statements from the defendants. Citing 404 Media, Tom's Hardware said the underlying documents remain sealed or redacted at the request of both companies.

According to Tom's Hardware, the brief references a January 2023 internal memo from Microsoft director of Applied Science Brent Hecht. In that memo, he is quoted as writing that millions of people worldwide would soon regard large models absorbing their work as a theft of unprecedented scale, and describing it as the largest theft of labor in human history. Tom's Hardware also reported that an OpenAI figure characterized ChatGPT as an existential threat to publishers.