OpenAI and Microsoft Face Lawsuit Over Alleged Copyright Infringement in AI Training

OpenAI, along with its financial supporter Microsoft, has been brought to court by nonfiction authors Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage. Filed in Manhattan federal court, this proposed class action lawsuit accuses the companies of copyright infringement. The authors claim that several of their books were used without permission to train OpenAI’s GPT large language models, which power services like the ChatGPT chatbot.

This legal action is part of a growing trend where authors, including notable names like comedian Sarah Silverman and "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin, are suing tech companies for allegedly using their works to develop AI programs. Additionally, the New York Times recently filed a similar lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft over the use of its journalists’ work in AI training.

Both Basbanes and Gage have backgrounds in journalism, and their lawyer, Michael Richter, expressed strong objections to their works being used to fuel a multi-billion-dollar industry without any form of compensation. The legal team for OpenAI and Microsoft has not yet responded to the lawsuit.