Microsoft exec called AI scraping ‘the largest theft of labor in human history,’ new unredacted filings reveal
Source: TechCrunch (opens in a new tab) · Rebecca Bellan
Intel Summary
Newly unsealed court filings reveal that a Microsoft executive privately characterized OpenAI's data harvesting as "theft" and "the largest theft of labor in human history." The records indicate that both companies scraped paywalled content from The New York Times to build datasets, despite internal warnings that doing so would financially undermine publishers.
Why It Matters
The internal acknowledgments could undermine fair use defenses in active copyright litigation, potentially increasing legal exposure and financial liability for AI vendors. The revelation reinforces legal pressure on foundational model developers to transition toward formal commercial data licensing agreements rather than uncompensated scraping.
Part of an ongoing development
Independent reportingUnsealed court filings reveal Microsoft executive calling AI scraping theft
Newly unsealed court filings reveal that a Microsoft executive privately characterized OpenAI's data harvesting as "theft" and "the largest theft of labor in human history." The records indicate that both companies scraped paywalled content from The New York Times to build datasets, despite internal warnings that doing so would financially undermine publishers. Claims are as reported; this summary makes no determination about accuracy or significance.
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More coverage of this development
- AI training built on fair use looks shaky when the companies' own people call it "astonishing theft"The DecoderIndependent reporting
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