A group of Canadian news publishers launch legal battle against OpenAI

New Delhi: A group of prominent Canadian news publishers has launched a legal battle against OpenAI, accusing the AI company of copyright infringement. 

The coalition, which includes The Canadian Press, Torstar, Globe and Mail, Postmedia, and CBC/Radio-Canada, filed a lawsuit on Friday, claiming that OpenAI has been using their news content to train its ChatGPT generative AI system without obtaining permission or providing compensation.

The publishers argue that OpenAI's practice of "scraping" large volumes of content from Canadian media outlets undermines the significant financial investments made in journalism, asserting that such content is protected by copyright. 

They emphasise that while they welcome technological innovation, the use of intellectual property must adhere to legal standards and be conducted on fair terms.

In response, OpenAI has stated that its AI models are trained on publicly accessible data and are grounded in principles of fair use, which they believe support both creators and innovation. The company also mentioned that it collaborates closely with news publishers, offering options for content attribution and opt-out mechanisms.

Some news organisations globally have opted for collaboration with OpenAI, receiving compensation for the use of their content in AI training. The Associated Press, among others, has entered into such licensing agreements with OpenAI.

The outcome of this lawsuit could have broad implications for how AI companies source data for training their models and how news organisations protect their digital content in the era of AI.