Unsealed filings reveal OpenAI, Microsoft AI training admissions

Unsealed court filings in the New York Times' copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft have revealed internal admissions from executives at both companies about the impact of their artificial intelligence training practices. The documents, made public on Thursday, contain statements from Microsoft and OpenAI leaders describing their AI systems as substitutes for journalism and acknowledging the economic harm to news publishers. A Microsoft executive, in a January 2023 internal memo, characterized the company's AI training as "an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions" and "the largest theft of labor in human history." An internal Microsoft presentation warned that its AI content strategy had created a "doom loop" that would damage the performance of its models and the entire web. The document stated it was "highly unusual that an end-product threatens the economic foundations of its essential suppliers." Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified under oath that clicks to news sites fell by more than 90 percent on Bing after the implementation of AI features. He also stated that anything paywalled should be licensed by anyone who wants to use it for training.