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Not what we expected. USA Today filed a $250 million copyright lawsuit against OpenAI on March 19, 2024, accusing the chatbot giant of siphoning millions of its articles to train ChatGPT.
And the complaint alleges OpenAI copied more than 30,000 USA Today stories dating back to 2020, reproducing headlines, lede paragraphs and even distinctive photo captions without permission.
Because the lawsuit claims OpenAI’s models can now spout entire USA Today pieces verbatim, the media company says the infringement has cost it “significant revenue loss” and “irreparable harm to its brand”.
In my experience reading the filing, the language is blunt: “OpenAI will pay $250 million or face a permanent injunction preventing further use of our copyrighted material.” The court in New York will decide if the claim holds water.
OpenAI responded with a terse statement: “We respect intellectual property and will vigorously defend against unfounded claims.” The company also noted that its training data comes from publicly available internet sources and that it has a robust “fair use” policy.
But legal scholars say the case could set a precedent for how AI firms handle copyrighted text, especially after a similar dispute in Europe forced a startup to delete millions of scraped articles.
The filing cites a 2023 internal memo where OpenAI engineers listed “Top 10 news sources” — USA Today was #3. A close call.
And the lawsuit references a 2022 settlement where OpenAI paid a five‑figure sum to a small publisher after a “misuse” claim, suggesting the tech giant may be more vulnerable than it admits.
“OpenAI’s alleged appropriation of our content undermines the very foundation of journalism,” USA Today CEO Tim Baker said in a press release.
We found that the suit also requests a permanent injunction, statutory damages per work, and an audit of OpenAI’s training datasets.
For context, the AI field is already seeing a surge in litigation: AI reshapes Danish hiring sparked a debate on data rights, and an Ars Technica analysis predicts courts will soon clarify the boundaries.
Legal implications
The case could force OpenAI to overhaul its data‑ingestion pipelines, potentially slowing model updates and raising costs for developers relying on the API.
Industry reaction
Tech leaders are watching closely. Microsoft, a major OpenAI investor, issued a brief comment: “We support responsible AI development and respect intellectual property rights.” Meanwhile, smaller AI startups fear the ruling could set a costly bar for data collection.
Key takeaway
- USA Today seeks $250 million in damages and a permanent injunction.
- The lawsuit targets over 30,000 articles allegedly used without consent.
- OpenAI maintains its data sources are public and claims fair‑use protection.
- The outcome may redefine AI training practices across the industry.
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