The Center for Investigative Reporting is suing OpenAI and Microsoft

The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), the nonprofit that produces Mother Jones and Reveal, announced on Thursday that it’s suing Microsoft and OpenAI over alleged copyright infringement, following similar actions by The New York Times and several other media outlets.

“OpenAI and Microsoft started vacuuming up our stories to make their product more powerful, but they never asked for permission or offered compensation, unlike other organizations that license our material,” Monika Bauerlein, CEO of the Center for Investigative Reporting, said in a statement. “This free rider behavior is not only unfair, it is a violation of copyright. The work of journalists, at CIR and everywhere, is valuable, and OpenAI and Microsoft know it.” 

CIR’s lawyers argue in the lawsuit that OpenAI and Microsoft copied its content, undermined relationships with readers and partners, and deprived it of revenue.

CIR joins many others in pursuing legal action against OpenAI and Microsoft. The New York Times has already spent $1 million on its lawsuit against the two companies. A group of eight publications owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital, including the New York Daily News and Chicago Tribune, is also suing, along with The Intercept, Raw Story, AlterNet, and The Denver Post.

Groups of authors have also sued OpenAI, though the lawsuit brought by a group that includes comedian Sarah Silverman was partially dismissed.

Some media organizations have signed licensing deals with OpenAI, including The Associated Press, Axel Springer, the Financial Times, Dotdash Meredith, News Corp, Vox Media (The Verge’s parent company), The Atlantic, and Time.

“We are working collaboratively with the news industry and partnering with global news publishers to display their content in our products like ChatGPT, including summaries, quotes, and attribution, to drive traffic back to the original articles,” an OpenAI spokesperson said to CNBC about CIR’s lawsuit.

OpenAI and Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from The Verge.

Disclosure: Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company, has a technology and content deal with OpenAI.