Open AI, Microsoft Sued By Pulitzer-Winning Authors, Accused Of Copyright Infringement

A group of 11 nonfiction authors, including winners of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, has joined a lawsuit filed against ChatGPT-parent OpenAI and Microsoft Corporation MSFT, accusing the companies of using their writings without permission for training AI programs.

What Happened: These authors have joined an ongoing lawsuit in Manhattan federal court against OpenAI and Microsoft, which accused tech giants of copyright infringement, reported Reuters.  

According to Rohit Nath, the attorney representing the writers, “The defendants are raking in billions from their unauthorized use of nonfiction books, and the authors of these books deserve fair compensation and treatment for it.”

The list of writers includes Pulitzer laureates Taylor Branch, Stacy Schiff, and Kai Bird, the latter being a co-author of the J. Robert Oppenheimer biography “American Prometheus,” which was adapted into the 2023 hit film starring Cillian Murphy “Oppenheimer.”

See Also: OpenAI’s Board Gets Veto Power To Undo Sam Altman’s Decisions And Hold Him Accountable

This lawsuit is an extension of an earlier one filed by writer and Hollywood Reporter editor Julian Sancton, who first named Microsoft as a defendant. The litigation alleges that OpenAI “scraped” copyrighted material from the internet for AI training without obtaining due permission.

The authors demand an unspecified amount in damages and an injunction to stop the alleged copyright infringement. 

Microsoft and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comments. 

Why It Matters: The current lawsuit comes on the heels of similar allegations made by comedian Sarah Silverman and other authors who accused OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc. META of copyright infringement earlier this year. 

In October, AI startup Anthropic was also sued by Universal Music Group, Concord, and ABKCO. Anthropic has been accused of using their songs to generate near-identical copies of lyrics via their AI model, Calude, without adequate permission.  

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This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.