NY judge orders OpenAI to hand over ChatGPT conversations in win for newspapers in copyright case
A Manhattan Judge Orders OpenAI to Provide Anonymous Chats in Copyright Infringement Case
A Manhattan judge has ruled that OpenAI must provide millions of anonymous chats between ChatGPT and its users to news outlets in a major copyright infringement case. The ruling comes after a request by OpenAI to reconsider a previous ruling requiring the tech giant to hand over 20 million ChatGPT output logs to the media outlets was denied by Manhattan Magistrate Judge Ona Wang.
The newspapers involved in the case are seeking to analyze the consumer logs to test ChatGPT’s language-learning model and determine if it is reproducing journalists’ work. This ruling is part of a consolidated class-action lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI, where several media outlets and authors allege that the artificial intelligence company is stealing and distorting copyrighted works.
Frank Pine, Executive Editor of MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing, stated, “OpenAI’s leadership was hallucinating when they thought they could get away with withholding evidence about how their business model relies on stealing from hardworking journalists.” OpenAI has expressed its commitment to protecting users’ privacy, but Wang reaffirmed that user privacy was not at risk and that the chats were relevant to the news outlets’ claims.
The judge ordered OpenAI to produce the 20 million ChatGPT logs once the deidentification process is complete. The data represents a small fraction of the billions of output logs retained by ChatGPT. MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing’s attorney, Steven Lieberman, highlighted the court’s findings that OpenAI had withheld critical evidence and suggested that OpenAI’s delay in producing the logs may have been motivated by improper purposes.
OpenAI has appealed Wang’s order to Manhattan Federal Judge Sidney Stein, who is overseeing the case. The decision to provide the chats is seen as a significant development in the ongoing legal battle between the media outlets and OpenAI.
