US Justice Department OpenAI — The U.S. Justice Department has sided with OpenAI in its legal battle against The New York Times, which accuses the artificial intelligence company of using its copyrighted articles to train chatbots. In a filing, the Justice Department argued that the potential benefits of training large language models outweigh any competitive harm.

The New York Times filed a lawsuit alleging that OpenAI and Microsoft unlawfully used millions of its articles to develop generative AI tools. The newspaper claims these tools can reproduce its content, undermining its business model.

The Justice Department’s filing, submitted on behalf of the government, stated that the creative possibilities and public benefits derived from training large language models on such content significantly exceed any potential competitive harm. This intervention by the Justice Department adds a new dimension to the ongoing dispute over AI training data and copyright protection.