A coalition of prominent Canadian news and media companies has initiated legal action against OpenAI, citing the company's use of their articles to train its artificial intelligence language models without permission. The lawsuit was officially filed on a Friday, asserting that OpenAI and similar AI firms are unlawfully leveraging proprietary news content for their own benefit, undermining the financial investments made by journalists and news organisations.
Paul Deegan, the president of News Media Canada, highlighted the grievance in a statement, asserting, "These artificial intelligence companies cannibalize proprietary content and are free-riding on the backs of news publishers who invest real money to employ real journalists who produce real stories for real people." He further elaborated that these AI companies are "strip-mining journalism while substantially, unjustly, and unlawfully enriching themselves to the detriment of publishers."
The companies involved in the lawsuit encompass several significant players in the Canadian media landscape, including The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the Toronto Star, along with Metroland Media and Postmedia.
The legal action not only demands a share of any profits that OpenAI has accrued from the utilisation of their articles but also seeks an injunction against OpenAI continuing to use any content from these publishers. Furthermore, the plaintiffs are pursuing damages of up to $20,000 for each article that OpenAI allegedly used to train its language models. Given the extensive and often indiscriminate nature of AI model training, the potential liabilities could be substantial if the court sides with the media companies.
This lawsuit is part of a broader context of escalating legal challenges faced by OpenAI. The company is already contending with copyright lawsuits from various entities, including the New York Times, as well as a class action suit from a group of authors, notably including George R.R. Martin. Concurrently, notable co-founder Elon Musk has brought forth his own lawsuit against OpenAI, adding another layer of complexity to the ongoing legal landscape for the AI firm.
As the debate over the intersection of AI technology and copyright continues to unfold, this action by Canadian media outlets reflects growing concerns regarding the protection of intellectual property in an increasingly automated world.
Source: Noah Wire Services