Ziff Davis, the parent company of popular tech outlets like PCMag, ZDNet, and CNET, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in Delaware federal court on Thursday, accusing the Microsoft-backed company of using its copyrighted content without permission to train the AI model behind ChatGPT.
The media company claims OpenAI “intentionally and relentlessly” exploited its publications in building its generative AI systems. According to the lawsuit, OpenAI is trying to move quickly without addressing the legal concerns of content owners, potentially leaving them with no recourse before significant harm is done.
This lawsuit is part of a growing number of legal challenges against OpenAI and other AI companies, including Google and Meta, from news outlets, authors, and artists. These plaintiffs accuse the companies of using copyrighted works to train AI without authorization.
OpenAI, along with other AI companies, maintains that its models use publicly available data and are grounded in fair use, which it argues allows for transformative learning to create new content. A spokesperson for Ziff Davis declined to comment on the lawsuit, while OpenAI reiterated that its AI systems “empower innovation.”
