US government backs OpenAI in New York Times copyright case - Reuters

The United States government has filed a brief in support of OpenAI in a copyright lawsuit brought by The New York Times. The filing aligns the government with the artificial‑intelligence developer as the case proceeds through the federal courts.

The lawsuit, originally filed in 2023, alleges that OpenAI and its primary financial backer, Microsoft, used millions of newspaper articles without permission to train the ChatGPT chatbot. The New York Times contends that the unlicensed copying of its content infringes its copyrights and seeks damages and injunctive relief.

In its brief, the U.S. government argues that the case presents important questions about the application of copyright law to machine‑learning technologies. The government’s position emphasizes the need to balance the protection of copyrighted works with the broader public interest in fostering innovation in artificial intelligence.

Legal analysts note that the case could set a precedent for how copyrighted material may be used in training large language models. Both OpenAI and Microsoft have maintained that their use of publicly available text falls within permissible limits, while the newspaper maintains that the scale and nature of the copying exceed any fair‑use defense.

The matter remains unresolved, with the court expected to consider the government‑filed amicus brief alongside the arguments of the parties. The outcome could have significant implications for the publishing industry and the development of AI systems that rely on large text corpora.