OpenAI and Microsoft have been sued for allegedly using the work of non-fiction authors to train the artificial intelligence (AI) models, the underlying technology that powers chatbots like ChatGPT.
It is one of multiple lawsuits that have been brought by groups of copyright owners against companies that are working on LLMs and chatbots. Authors including John Grisham, George R.R.Martin and Jonathan Franzen filed a lawsuit against the company in September this year.
They allege that the companies have misused their work to train AI systems. The tech giants have denied the allegations.
According to a report by news agency Reuters, the latest lawsuit is filed by author and Hollywood Reporter editor Julian Sancton in Manhattan federal court. He said that OpenAI copied tens of thousands of non-fiction books without permission to teach its LLMs to respond to human text prompts.
What Sancton has to say
Sancton claims that OpenAI copied non-fiction books, including his “Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica’s Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night” to train its GPT large language models.
“While OpenAI and Microsoft refuse to pay nonfiction authors, their AI platform is worth a fortune. The basis of OpenAI is nothing less than the rampant theft of copyrighted works,” Sancton’s attorney Justin Nelson was quoted as saying.
The complaint also alleged Microsoft’s involvement in training and developing the models. The publication said that Sancton asked the court for an unspecified amount of monetary damages and an order to block the alleged infringement.
Meanwhile, the news agency said that an OpenAI declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation and Microsoft did not respond.