In a copyright case against OpenAI and Microsoft, news outlets argue that private statements by executives undermine the companies’ fair-use defense. Quotes from Greg Brockman of OpenAI and Satya Nadella of Microsoft suggest their AI products substitute for journalism and use copyrighted material improperly. The New York Times and other news organizations claim these revelations show the tech firms knew their practices were legally questionable, challenging the transformative nature of AI training on news articles.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Microsoft and OpenAI executives admitted in unsealed court filings that large language models (LLMs) are predatory and built on the theft of content from human creators. An internal Microsoft document cited a "doom loop" where AI products steal content, cannibalize clicks from original sources, harming their business models. The New York Times vs OpenAI lawsuit revealed executives stating LLMs threaten to hoover up all work without compensation, leading critics to call it the largest theft of labor in history. This admission undermines Microsoft and OpenAI’s defense that AI training is fair use as it transforms copyrighted material into new content without competing with journalism. Quotes from Greg Brockman, Satya Nadella, and others indicate LLMs are substitutive for journalism, posing an existential threat to publishers.
Written for “LLMs and Copyright Issues” on 2026-09-18,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
OpenAI, Microsoft executives’ quotes on AI training threaten copyright defence, news outlets argue
AI generated
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outlets → threaten → AI
OpenAI and Microsoft executives privately described their AI products as substitutes for journalism, according to court filings made public on Sept 17 that the New York Times and other news outlets say gut the tech companies’ fair-use defence in a closely watched copyright case.
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Times → describe → case
OpenAI and its largest financial backer, 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 organisations’ journalism.
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it → argue → journalism
Previously redacted portions of the filing made public on Sept 17 revealed quotes from OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and others during the discovery process that the news organisations say “eviscerate” the companies’ fair-use defence to the infringement claims.
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organisations → redact → claims
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.”
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they → quote → products
Spokespeople for OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the filing.
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Spokespeople → respond → filing
A New York Times spokesperson declined to comment.
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spokesperson → decline → ?
“The evidence revealed here for the first time shows that OpenAI and Microsoft knew that what they were doing was wrong,” Steven Lieberman, an attorney for the New York Daily News and seven other newspapers involved in the case, said in a statement.
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Lieberman → reveal → statement
The lawsuit, first filed in 2023, accuses OpenAI and Microsoft of using millions of articles without permission to train ChatGPT from news sources that also include Ziff Davis publications, the Intercept and the Center for Investigative Reporting.
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that → file → Reporting
Dozens of other complaints have also been brought by copyright owners against tech companies over what they call the theft of their material to train AI systems.
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they → bring → systems
The cases will likely turn on whether AI systems make fair use of copyrighted material by using it to create transformative new content.
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systems → turn → content
That question was at the centre of arguments OpenAI and Microsoft made to US District Judge Sidney Stein in Sept 4 court filings.
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OpenAI → make → filings
The Trump administration supports the AI companies and told Stein on Sept 1 that AI training is “extraordinarily” transformative.
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training → support → Sept
According to the outlets’ Sept 17 filing, Brockman wrote that large language models are “‘particularly good at predicting text of news articles’, ‘excellent at news’, and ‘very good at any news task’,“ and responded “ah nice,” when he was told that OpenAI employees had discovered a “hack” to get around the New York Times’ paywall.
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employees → accord → paywall
Nadella agreed under oath that conversing with chatbots “has substituted ... giving you the information right there on the website on the AI platform versus needing to go to the underlying source.”
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conversing → agree → source
Microsoft said Nadella’s comment did not undermine the company’s defense in the copyright case.
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comment → say → case
“Satya’s testimony and Microsoft’s position in this case are perfectly consistent,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.
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spokesperson → say → Thursday
“He spoke to broad principles and changes underway in how people find and consume information.”
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people → speak → information
“Those observations should not be confused with conclusions about copyright questions before the Court, which Microsoft addresses in its filings,” the spokesperson added.
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spokesperson → confuse → filings
The filing also quoted Microsoft’s director of applied science, Brent Hecht, as saying that “millions of people” would consider AI companies “‘hoovering up’ all their work” to be “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions”.
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companies → quote → proportions
“These comments reflect one employee’s individual perspective, are not a legal analysis, and do not represent the company’s views,” the Microsoft spokesperson said in response.
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spokesperson → reflect → response
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