Seattle Times, Newsday Sue OpenAI and Microsoft — SkimNews
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- The Seattle Times and Newsday filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the companies used their journalism to train AI systems without authorization.
- The complaint warned generative AI could leave the journalism industry "broken beyond repair" and described the technology as "a snake eating its own tail" that could "destroy the very organizations" producing training content.
- The lawsuit characterized ChatGPT and CoPilot as "rapacious consumers" that devour human-authored content and return "copies and derivative imitations" to serve their "commercial objectives."
- The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft in 2023 over alleged copyright infringement, and other publications have since followed; the Seattle Times and Newsday suit is the latest escalation in that litigation wave.
- The Seattle Times' filing carries a notable irony: Microsoft and OpenAI previously funded some of the organization's journalism projects and fellowships — money flowing from the same companies now accused of profiting from its reporting.
- A Microsoft spokesperson told GeekWire the company is "surprised by the lawsuit" but is "always happy to sit down and explore solutions to this type of dispute."
Why it matters: Two more major newsrooms just joined the legal coalition challenging AI training practices, deepening the pressure on OpenAI and Microsoft as the New York Times' 2023 suit remains unresolved. The Seattle Times' case is particularly sharp because Microsoft and OpenAI previously funded its journalism projects — meaning the defendants helped bankroll content they now stand accused of appropriating.
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