Filings: OpenAI Used 'Sketchy Russian Website' for Training Books — SkimNews
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- Unsealed court documents in Authors Guild v. OpenAI, released September 18, 2026, allege that OpenAI and Microsoft executives and employees 'intentionally broke the law' by training AI on copyrighted books.
- OpenAI sourced training material from a 'sketchy Russian website' and released products it knew 'will make people unemployed,' according to Class Plaintiffs' filings (Docket 1982 and 1987).
- The brief warns that 'OpenAI's GPT models pose an existential threat to those who write and publish books,' documenting a 'mass piracy scheme' pursued 'even in the face of clear evidence' of harm to American culture.
- Named plaintiffs include The Authors Guild, John Grisham, George R.R. Martin, Jodi Picoult, David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, Jonathan Franzen, and nine other bestselling authors.
- Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger called the revelations evidence of 'shocking disdain for writers' through 'repeated, intentional decisions to steal books rather than pay for them.'
- A parallel brief filed by news media organizations was also released, part of the broader multidistrict litigation against OpenAI and Microsoft pending in Manhattan.
- Lead counsel Justin A. Nelson of Susman Godfrey is heading the class action, with more briefing expected over coming months and a hearing scheduled for early 2027.
Why it matters: The plaintiffs' filings put defendants' 'guilty knowledge' and intentional misconduct at the center of the case ahead of a partial summary judgment hearing in early 2027 — backed by bestselling authors including Grisham, Martin, and Picoult — escalating the copyright fight from a routine infringement dispute into one centered on alleged willful piracy by OpenAI and Microsoft executives.
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