Canadian news publishers suing ChatGPT developer OpenAI

A coalition of Canadian news publishers is suing OpenAI for using news content to train its ChatGPT generative artificial intelligence system.

The coalition includes The Canadian Press, Torstar, Globe and Mail, Postmedia and CBC/Radio-Canada.

The outlets said in a joint statement Friday that OpenAI is regularly breaching copyright by scraping large amounts of content from Canadian media. 

“OpenAI is capitalizing and profiting from the use of this content, without getting permission or compensating content owners,” the statement said.

The companies said they invest hundreds of millions of dollars into journalism, and that content is protected by copyright.

“News media companies welcome technological innovations. However, all participants must follow the law, and any use of intellectual property must be on fair terms,” the statement said.

Generative AI can create text, images, videos and computer code based on a simple prompt, but the systems must first study vast amounts of existing content.

OpenAI said in a statement that its models are trained on publicly available data. It said they are “grounded in fair use and related international copyright principles that are fair for creators and support innovation.”

The company said it collaborates “closely with news publishers, including in the display, attribution and links to their content in ChatGPT search” and offers outlets “easy ways to opt-out should they so desire.”

The news outlets’ lawsuit is the first such case in Canada, though numerous actions are underway in the United States, including a case by the New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft.

The federal government is currently weighing how to update Canada’s copyright laws to account for the rise of generative AI. 

In a recent consultation, Canadian creators and publishers called on the government to do something about use of their content to train generative AI, while AI companies maintained using the material to train systems doesn’t violate copyright, and said limiting its use would stymie the development of AI in Canada.

The Liberal government has passed a law requiring Google and Meta to compensate news publishers for the use of their content, but has previously declined to say whether the Online News Act should apply to use by AI systems.

In response to that legislation, Meta pulled news from its platforms in Canada, while Google has reached a deal to pay $100 million to Canadian news outlets. 

The companies also have generative AI systems of their own, and both Google’s Gemini and Meta AI admitted to using Canadian news to either train or provide answers to users’ questions.

The CRTC, which is in charge of implementing the act, is looking into whether Meta could still be covered under the legislation. 

This week it ordered the company to publicly disclose information about measures it’s taking to comply with the Online News Act, and if news is still being made available on its platforms. 

Neither the government not the CRTC immediately responded to a request for comment.