Major Canadian news organizations, including Metroland Media, Postmedia, The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press, CBC and the Toronto Star, are banding together to sue OpenAI, saying that the company is illegally using news articles to train ChatGPT, reports The Star.
These news organizations filed the suit in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice on Friday morning. They are seeking punitive damages, disgorgement of profits made by OpenAI from using their articles, and an injunction barring OpenAI from using their articles in the future. Additionally, TorStar says that the companies are looking for $20,000 in statutory damages per article used by OpenAI, which could have a total value of billions of dollars.
“Journalism is in the public interest. OpenAI using other companies’ journalism for their own commercial gain is not. It’s illegal,” said a joint statement from the media organizations, which law firm Lenczner Slaght represents. None of the allegations contained in the suit have been proven in court.
OpenAI has not responded to a request for comment.
It’s not out of the question for these news companies to ask for compensation. OpenAI has signed a licensing agreement with organizations like the Associated Press, NewsCorp, and Condé Nast. The report indicates that OpenAI is valued at $157 billion USD after a recent round of investor fundraising.
Header image credit: Shutterstock
Source: The Star
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