Late last year, the New York Times became the first major US newspaper to sue OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, claiming the Sam Altman-led company had made unauthorized use of its published work to train its large language models. The lawsuit showed that ChatGPT could easily be used to extensively regurgitate paywalled content almost word for word, an arguably glaring example of a company benefiting from the NYT’s work without express permission by charging its users a monthly fee. Now, just under two weeks later, OpenAI published a 1,000-word blog post in response to the lawsuit, arguing that it should have unfettered rights to train its models on the newspaper’s work, and that such a practice is considered fair use under US copyright law — a particularly hot-button subject that has yet to be debated in court. It’s a heated challenge that could have considerable implications for the future of journalism. By allowing users to skirt around paywalls and subscriptions, OpenAI is directly undercutting an important revenue source for news outlets around the world. And that doesn’t bode well, considering the sorry state of the industry in the year 2024. Meanwhile, OpenAI is trying to drum up support among the NYT’s peers. In its blog post, the company argued that it still had goodwill among other news organizations, writing that “we’ve met with dozens, as well as leading industry organizations like the News/Media Alliance, to explore opportunities, discuss their concerns, and provide solutions.” OpenAI has also partnered with the…OpenAI Says It's Fine to Vacuum Up Everyone's Content and Charge for It Without Paying Them