Local Newspapers Challenge OpenAI and Microsoft Over Paywall Use

OpenAI and Microsoft are facing a new lawsuit from news organizations, including the Seattle Times and Newsday. These companies accuse the tech giants of utilizing their websites to train artificial intelligence models without obtaining permission.

The lawsuit, lodged in the Southern District of New York, claims that OpenAI and Microsoft unlawfully scraped paywalled content and incorporated it into training datasets for applications such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and the AI-enhanced Bing search engine.

The publishers assert that the chatbots have been capable of reproducing entire passages and closely paraphrasing the work of journalists. The lawsuit demands that OpenAI and Microsoft eliminate all existing copies of the published content, along with any training datasets or AI models that include this material, according to a report by Reuters.

“We are committed to protecting our content, which we invest millions of dollars in each year, from being utilized without our permission or fair compensation,” stated Alan Fisco, president and CEO of the Seattle Times, in a communication to employees.

In response to the lawsuit, OpenAI stated that it exclusively employs publicly accessible materials that comply with fair use for training its models. Microsoft expressed surprise regarding the lawsuit but indicated readiness to “engage in discussions to find solutions” with the publishers.

OpenAI and Microsoft have encountered multiple legal challenges concerning their training data and alleged copyright violations. This includes an ongoing lawsuit with the New York Times and several other publishers. The Times contends that the products offered by OpenAI and Microsoft compete directly with its own offerings by reproducing its content without making adequate transformations under current fair use laws.

Recently, the Trump administration submitted a Statement of Interest (SOI) in this case. The Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that a ruling in favor of the New York Times could adversely affect local newsrooms and independent journalism. The DOJ emphasized that AI technology can empower smaller publishers to remain competitive against larger news organizations.

The brief further claimed that a victory for the Times could “endanger national security” by hindering advancements in AI and providing foreign competitors with an advantage. The administration has utilized this argument in attempts to obstruct litigation against AI data centers.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, the parent company of Mashable, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging infringement of Ziff Davis copyrights in the training and operation of its AI systems.