Seattle Times and Newsday sue OpenAI and Microsoft over AI training data
Seattle Times and Newsday have filed lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft, joining an expanding roster of publishers challenging the alleged use of copyrighted journalism to train large language models. TechCrunch and Reuters report the pair alleges unauthorized use of their news content for AI training, extending litigation that began when The New York Times sued the same defendants in 2023. The suits add pressure on major AI developers to document data provenance and negotiate licensing rather than rely on fair-use defenses alone. For builders and operators, the cases signal that unlicensed training corpora carry mounting legal exposure that could reshape dataset economics. Early reporting offers limited detail on specific claims, damages sought, and whether the actions are coordinated or independent.
Seattle Times and Newsday sue OpenAI and Microsoft over AI training data
Two more news organizations are suing OpenAI and Microsoft over the supposed use of their journalism to train AI. Back in 2023, The New York Times sued OpenAI and its partner/investor Microsoft over alleged copyright infringement.
Key takeaway
Publisher copyright suits against OpenAI and Microsoft are widening beyond landmark cases like The New York Times, making training-data licensing a front-line operational risk.
What happened
According to TechCrunch, Seattle Times and Newsday are the latest publications to sue OpenAI and Microsoft over the supposed use of their journalism to train AI, adding two more news organizations to an active legal front.
Reuters reports the publishers allege copyright infringement tied to training large language models on their content, following The New York Times lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft that began in 2023 over alleged copyright infringement.
Evidence
Seattle Times and Newsday sued OpenAI and Microsoft over alleged use of journalism for AI training.
TechCrunch AI · attributed
Two more news organizations are suing OpenAI and Microsoft over the supposed use of their journalism to train AI.
The New York Times previously sued OpenAI and Microsoft in 2023.
TechCrunch AI · attributed
Back in 2023, The New York Times sued OpenAI and its partner/investor Microsoft over alleged copyright infringement.
Reuters framed the action as copyright infringement litigation over LLM training on publisher content.
Reuters AI · attributed
Seattle Times and Newsday have filed lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft alleging copyright infringement for training large language models on their content.
TechCrunch analysis notes growing publisher pressure on AI developers over data provenance.
TechCrunch AI · attributed
Seattle Times and Newsday have joined a growing list of publishers suing OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging unauthorized use of their journalism for AI training.
Why it matters
Teams building or operating models on web-scale news corpora may need to budget for licenses, removals, or retraining if courts reject broad fair-use claims in favor of publisher control.
Limits and uncertainties
The packet excerpts do not specify damages sought, detailed legal theories, or court venues for the Seattle Times and Newsday filings.
Reuters coverage carried through Google News is described in the packet as generic boilerplate, leaving unclear whether the suits are coordinated or independent actions.
Practical implications
Map news publisher content in training datasets and document consent, license, or takedown status before production use.
Monitor publisher litigation dockets alongside any licensing announcements from OpenAI or Microsoft that could reset data-acquisition assumptions.
What to watch
Public court filings or docket entries detailing claims, requested relief, and defendants' responses in the Seattle Times and Newsday cases.
Whether additional regional publishers file similar suits or announce AI licensing deals with OpenAI and Microsoft.
