In a significant development for media and technology relations, The Seattle Times and Newsday have filed a joint lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging copyright infringement related to the use of their journalism in training artificial intelligence models. The legal complaint, filed on September 5, 2026, claims that AI products such as ChatGPT and Microsoft CoPilot function as "rapacious consumers" that devour human-authored content and regurgitate derivative imitations for commercial gain.
The publishers argue that if AI continues to consume content without proper licensing or compensation, the journalism industry faces becoming "broken beyond repair." The complaint frames the situation as a "snake eating its own tail," suggesting that AI systems destroy the very organizations producing the content they consume. Notably, the Seattle Times lawsuit is notable due to the historical relationship between the parties; Microsoft and OpenAI have previously funded the organization's journalism projects and fellowships, creating a complex conflict of interest that the plaintiffs have highlighted in their legal filings.
A Microsoft spokesperson responded to the litigation by stating the company was "surprised by the lawsuit" but expressed a willingness to "sit down and explore solutions" to resolve the dispute. This legal action follows the high-profile 2023 New York Times lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, marking another step in a growing wave of media organizations challenging AI training practices and seeking to protect their intellectual property in the age of large language models.
