OpenAI And Microsoft Sued For Allegedly Harassing Author's Work To Train AI Model

Writer Nicholas Basbanes, sue OpenAI and Microsoft (photo: libcal.com)

JAKARTA - On Friday, January 5, OpenAI and their financial partner, Microsoft, were reported in Manhattan federal court by two non-fiction writers claiming the company abused their work to train artificial intelligence models behind the popular chatbot ChatGPT and other AI services.

Writers Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage stated in their class action lawsuit that the company violated their copyright by including some of their books as part of the data used to train OpenAI's big GPT language model.

Representatives from Microsoft and OpenAI have not responded to the lawsuit until this news is published.

The lawsuit is one of a number of lawsuits filed by fiction and non-fiction writers, including comedian Sarah Silverman and author George RR Martin's "Game of Thrones" against tech companies over alleged use of their works to train artificial intelligence programs.

Previously, the New York Times also sued OpenAI and Microsoft for using their journalist work in training artificial intelligence applications.

Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage, both former journalists, said that it was "disturbing" that companies could use their work to "move new industries worth billions of dollars without compensation."

The lawsuit highlights an ever-increasing debate over ethics and copyright surrounding the use of artwork and information by technology companies to train artificial intelligence systems.