In a shocking turn of events, the New York Times and The Daily News have accused OpenAI of hiding evidence in a two-year lawsuit over copyright infringement. According to the outlets, OpenAI allegedly lied about its ability to search customer chat log data and training datasets for copyrighted works.
The lawsuit, which has been ongoing since 2024, centers around OpenAI’s use of copyrighted journalism in its ChatGPT model. The plaintiffs claim that OpenAI trained its generative AI models on the Times’ content without permission, resulting in user outputs that reproduced the original journalism.
Throughout the case, OpenAI has argued that it lacked the ability to search its own training corpus and that producing the massive collection of ChatGPT conversations would be technically burdensome. However, new evidence suggests that this may not have been the case.
In an April court-ordered deposition, OpenAI data privacy engineer Vinnie Monaco allegedly revealed that the company had already conducted internal searches and evaluations of its training corpus to search for copyrighted journalism works. Additionally, Monaco’s deposition revealed that OpenAI had amassed a database of about 78 million de-identified ChatGPT conversations as early as before the lawsuit was filed.
This revelation is particularly significant, as the plaintiffs had originally asked OpenAI to provide a sample of 120 million chat logs. However, OpenAI negotiated to bring the sample down to just 20 million and allegedly included so many redactions that the sample was deemed unusable by the plaintiffs.
The New York Times and The Daily News have accused OpenAI of hiding evidence in a two-year lawsuit over copyright infringement.
**New Evidence Reveals OpenAI’s Alleged Misconduct**
According to court documents, OpenAI data privacy engineer Vinnie Monaco testified that the company had conducted internal searches for copyrighted works. This contradicts OpenAI’s previous claims that it lacked the ability to search its own training corpus.
The plaintiffs have accused OpenAI of withholding evidence and attempting to conceal the extent of its use of copyrighted journalism in ChatGPT. The new revelations raise questions about OpenAI’s transparency and accountability.
**Background on the Lawsuit**
The lawsuit, which was filed in 2024, centers around OpenAI’s use of copyrighted journalism in its ChatGPT model. The plaintiffs claim that OpenAI trained its generative AI models on the Times’ content without permission, resulting in user outputs that reproduced the original journalism.
OpenAI has argued that it lacked the ability to search its own training corpus and that producing the massive collection of ChatGPT conversations would be technically burdensome. However, new evidence suggests that this may not have been the case.
**Implications for OpenAI and the Industry**
The allegations against OpenAI raise questions about the company’s transparency and accountability. If true, the allegations could have significant implications for OpenAI and the broader AI industry.
The New York Times and The Daily News have accused OpenAI of hiding evidence in a two-year lawsuit over copyright infringement.
Source: Original article