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Trump Administration Backs OpenAI in New York Times Copyright Lawsuit

7 sources across 5 countries

Who reported this

  • The Guardian United Kingdom · Centre-left · Scott Trust Limited
  • Reuters United Kingdom · Centre · Thomson Reuters Corporation
  • The Intercept United States · Left · First Look Institute (non-profit)
  • WIRED United States · Centre-left · Conde Nast (Advance Publications)
  • Folha de S.Paulo Brazil · Centre · Grupo Folha (Frias family)
  • Le Monde France · Centre-left · Fonds pour l'independance de la presse
  • Rappler Philippines · Centre-left · Rappler Inc, staff-held

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.

Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.

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The United States Department of Justice has filed a brief in a federal court in New York supporting OpenAI in its legal battle against the New York Times. The government argues that training large language models on copyrighted material constitutes fair use and is essential for the United States to maintain global leadership in artificial intelligence. The filing, submitted on Tuesday, September 1, asserts that such training is extraordinarily transformative and does not violate copyright law. According to the administration, restricting this process would hinder scientific progress, national security, and economic mobility. The New York Times, which sued OpenAI and Microsoft in 2023, claims the companies used millions of its articles without permission to develop ChatGPT. A spokesperson for the newspaper stated that the administration is siding with trillion dollar AI companies at the expense of American creators. The government's intervention is described as unusual and historical, as it marks the first time the U.S. government has weighed in on these ongoing copyright disputes. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. stated on X that AI dominance is critical to promote national security and prosperity. Other plaintiffs, including the Author's Guild and The Intercept, have expressed disappointment, arguing that the position threatens the financial survival of media outlets and represents an uncompensated transfer of intellectual property rights. While the brief is advisory and not legally binding, legal experts suggest it carries significant weight because it originates from the Department of Justice.

How each side framed it

Left
This framing characterized the government's position as a permit for tech giants to rip off creative work and a threat to the survival of independent media.
Centre-left
These outlets focused on the tension between AI innovation and the rights of creators, highlighting the potential harm to journalism.
Centre
These reports emphasized the economic and national security justifications provided by the government while noting the personal conflicts between Trump and the New York Times.

Sources

100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.