The New York Times has amended its copyright complaint against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that Microsoft built a supercomputer specifically to help OpenAI infringe on its copyrighted works. The motion comes after a Supreme Court ruling that set a new standard for contributory infringement, requiring plaintiffs to prove intentional actions to induce illegal conduct. The NYT now seeks to align its claim with this new legal standard, arguing that neither Microsoft nor OpenAI would be prejudiced by allowing the amended complaint. The case schedule would not be delayed because the NYT does not seek additional discovery for its amended claims. 'As we have long alleged, Microsoft actively encouraged OpenAI to steal our copyrighted works,' said Graham James, an NYT spokesperson.
The NYT alleges that Microsoft's supercomputer was tailor-made to help OpenAI train AI on copyrighted works without permission, with the newspaper's articles heavily weighted by this system. The NYT claims the supercomputer was designed to curate the Internet to disproportionately feature Times works, enabling the training of the most capable LLM in history. The NYT also alleges that Microsoft's deployment of Times-trained LLMs boosted its market capitalization by a trillion dollars in the past year. The complaint includes examples of ChatGPT outputs that closely mimic NYT articles, with some users reporting they could bypass paywalls by requesting the 'next paragraph.' The NYT argues that these outputs demonstrate market harms caused by substitution, as well as false citations of NYT content.
The NYT's motion was filed after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cox Communications, setting a new standard for contributory infringement. The NYT argues that allowing the amended complaint is proper when legal standards change, and that the case schedule would not be set back. Microsoft spokespersons have called the amended complaint a 'last-ditch effort' by the plaintiff to save its claim from unfavorable precedent. The NYT's core claims remain unchanged, asserting that Microsoft and OpenAI stole millions of its copyrighted works to compete with its products and illegally enrich themselves.
Source: arstechnica
