New York Times Publisher Slams AI Companies for Stealing Intellectual Property, Warns of Existential Threat to Journalism

As generative AI expands rapidly, news organizations fear technology companies are using vast volumes of reporting to train models without authorization and generating answers directly within search interfaces, eroding subscriptions, advertising revenue and traffic. New York Times Publisher A.G. Sulzberger says journalism, which requires investment in reporting and verification, faces an existential crisis if original content is not fairly compensated.

The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on December 27, 2023. The lawsuit did not specify damages but alleged losses amounting to billions of dollars. In a recent speech at the World News Media Congress, Sulzberger accused AI companies of plundering journalistic intellectual property on a massive scale and urged the industry to fight back collectively through litigation, licensing negotiations and policy advocacy.