OpenAI and Microsoft executives privately described their AI products as substitutes for journalism, according to court filings made public on Thursday that the New York Times and other news outlets say gut the tech companies' fair-use defense in a closely watched copyright case.
OpenAI and Microsoft have argued in the Manhattan federal court case that their AI training on millions of newspaper articles is protected as fair use because it transforms copyrighted material into new content and does not compete with or replace the news organizations' journalism.
Previously redacted portions of the filing made public Thursday revealed quotes from OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and others during discovery that the news organizations say "eviscerate" the fair-use defense.
The outlets quoted OpenAI's head of ChatGPT, Nick Turley, as saying that publishers face an "existential threat" from their products, which are "largely substitutive" and "will get more and more substitutive as they get better."
Spokespeople for OpenAI and Microsoft pushed back, saying the quotes were taken out of context and that their products drive significant traffic to news sources. But the plaintiffs argue the internal language tells a different story — one where AI products are explicitly designed to replace the very content they train on.
The case is being watched closely across the tech and media industries, as its outcome could set precedent for how AI training on copyrighted material is treated under US law.
