As reported by TechCrunch AI, recently unsealed court documents show that Microsoft privately called OpenAI's data practices 'theft.' The materials also state that both companies used paywalled content from The New York Times to create datasets.
According to the publication's synopsis, internal warnings within the companies stated that such practices would cause serious harm to publishers. This refers to internal assessments disclosed within court documents, not independent confirmation of all described circumstances.
The significance of the story lies in its connection between the use of publisher content for AI and risks to the media economy, highlighting a divergence between internal criticism and described actions. The full text of the documents and the positions of Microsoft, OpenAI, and The New York Times are not provided in the available package.
editorial commentary
Why it matters
A likely consequence is increased scrutiny of how AI companies use paid publisher content and assess risks to media. The next observable signals will be the full texts of the documents or official comments from Microsoft, OpenAI, and The New York Times. Significant uncertainty remains: the package contains only a synopsis from one source, without primary documents.