Microsoft Executive Called AI Scraping ‘Largest Theft of Labor,’ Filings Show
The New York Times sued Microsoft and OpenAI in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in December 2023, alleging that millions of its articles were copied without permission to train generative AI systems including ChatGPT. The dispute tests whether large-scale commercial training qualifies as “fair use,” a question with broad implications for AI development costs, publishers’ licensing power and the economics of original journalism.
Unredacted summary-judgment filings released on Sept. 17, 2026, quoted Microsoft Director of Applied Science Brent Hecht describing AI scraping in a January 2023 memo as “the largest theft of labor in human history.” OpenAI’s head of ChatGPT, Nick Turley, separately warned that chatbots posed an “existential threat” to publishers. The plaintiffs allege OpenAI scraped more than 10 million articles, nearly one-third from the Times, bypassed paywalls and stripped copyright notices. Microsoft said Hecht’s remarks reflected one employee’s view; damages remain undetermined, and a ruling is not expected until 2027.
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The history behind this eventSeattle Times, Newsday Sue OpenAI and Microsoft Over Copyright
Publishers and technology companies are locked in a widening dispute over whether copyrighted journalism can be used without permission to train generative artificial intelligence. The Seattle Times and Long Island newspaper Newsday argue that products including ChatGPT and Copilot benefit commercially from original reporting without paying licensing fees, threatening publishers’ subscription revenue, web traffic and ability to fund news gathering.
The newspapers sued OpenAI and Microsoft in Manhattan federal court on April 30, 2025, alleging their AI systems copied and reproduced copyrighted articles without authorization. They are seeking damages, an injunction and the destruction of models incorporating their content, though no specific monetary claim was disclosed. Microsoft said it was surprised by the lawsuit and remained willing to discuss the dispute with publishers.
Microsoft Says Copilot Rarely Reproduces NYT Articles
The New York Times, the Center for Investigative Reporting and book authors have sued Microsoft and OpenAI, alleging their copyrighted journalism and books were used without permission to train generative AI products that now compete with the originals. The dispute centers on whether such training is protected as fair use and whether Copilot can reproduce enough source material to act as a substitute. The publishers’ and authors’ claims have been consolidated before one judge despite objections from the plaintiffs.
Microsoft sought summary judgment on Sept. 4, 2026, citing an analysis of 8.2 million Copilot chats produced in discovery. Of those, 59,545 contained at least 16 words overlapping with news material used to ground the system, while a Center for Investigative Reporting expert identified 51 instances of substantial overlap. An expert in the authors’ case found just 24 responses with at least 30 matching words; only 10 of 212 books examined produced any match.
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