Seattle Times and Newsday Sue OpenAI and Microsoft Over AI Training Data
Summary
Updated Sep 7 — Nearly 400 local newspapers have now separately sued OpenAI and Microsoft over AI training data use.
- • Seattle Times and Newsday sue OpenAI and Microsoft for scraping journalism to train AI
- • Lawsuit seeks damages and destruction of all training datasets built using their content
- • Irony: Microsoft and OpenAI both financially fund the Seattle Times they are now suing
- • ChatGPT reproduced 88 words of Pulitzer-winning Boeing MAX coverage verbatim
Updates
Nearly 400 local newspapers have also sued OpenAI and Microsoft
The Verge reports that Seattle Times and Newsday join nearly 400 local newspapers that have separately filed suit against OpenAI and Microsoft — signaling industry-wide opposition to AI model training on copyrighted journalism content.
Merriam-Webster and Encyclopedia Britannica among additional plaintiffs
The Verge identifies Merriam-Webster and Encyclopedia Britannica as additional plaintiffs in copyright cases against OpenAI, broadening the litigation beyond news publishers to reference and educational publishers.
Details
Lawsuit filed by Seattle Times Co. and Newsday against OpenAI and Microsoft
Seattle Times Co. and Newsday filed suit alleging OpenAI and Microsoft scraped hundreds of thousands of articles to train AI models, bypassing paywalls and ignoring terms of service.
Seeks damages and destruction of all training datasets using their content
The suit seeks financial damages and the court-ordered destruction of any AI training datasets and models built using their copyrighted journalism.
Defendants fund the plaintiffs: $10M Lenfest fellowship and Microsoft Philanthropies grants
Microsoft Philanthropies underwrites some Seattle Times journalism. In 2024, Microsoft and OpenAI jointly funded a $10M Lenfest Institute AI fellowship whose inaugural cohort included both the Seattle Times and Newsday.
ChatGPT reproduced 88 words verbatim from Pulitzer-winning Boeing 737 MAX reporting
The complaint includes examples of ChatGPT reproducing Seattle Times content nearly word for word, including an 88-word verbatim stretch from its Pulitzer-winning Boeing 737 MAX crash coverage, generated when prompted with just the article's headline and URL.
Joins consolidated publisher case before Judge Sidney H. Stein in Manhattan
The case echoes the NYT's 2023 copyright lawsuit against the same defendants; it joins consolidated cases from New York Daily News, Ziff Davis, and the Center for Investigative Reporting before U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein.
DOJ brief sided with Microsoft and OpenAI in parallel NYT case same week
A U.S. Justice Department brief filed this week argued that a ruling for publishers in the NYT case would stifle American AI development, directly backing the AI companies' legal position.
Both sides filed summary judgment motions in the NYT consolidated case same day
On the same day the Seattle Times/Newsday suit was filed, publishers and defendants in the consolidated NYT case both separately moved for summary judgment, signaling the legal battle is reaching a critical phase.
OpenAI has licensing deals with AP, News Corp, Axel Springer; 3 disclosed deals top $300M
OpenAI has struck content licensing agreements with more than a dozen outlets; three publicly disclosed deals — AP, News Corp, and Axel Springer — total over $300M, creating a two-tier system between licensed and unlicensed publishers.
Seattle Times Union backs lawsuit but flags AI job-replacement concern in contract talks
The Seattle Times Union, representing 160+ employees, supports the lawsuit but notes the company has refused to guarantee in ongoing contract negotiations that it will not replace non-reporter newsroom jobs with AI.
Source: GeekWire reporting on Seattle Times Co. and Newsday lawsuit filing, September 2026
What This Means
The Seattle Times and Newsday lawsuit represents a new major front in the escalating copyright battle between news publishers and AI developers — one made acutely ironic by the fact that the defendants have directly funded the plaintiffs through journalism grants. The case adds significant legal weight to the growing publisher coalition already pursuing OpenAI and Microsoft, arriving the same week the DOJ signaled it will back the AI companies' position in the parallel NYT case. The legal outcome will be consequential: a ruling for publishers could force AI developers to license or delete training data; a ruling for the AI companies could green-light large-scale scraping of copyrighted content. The internal contradiction at the Seattle Times — suing its funders while its union flags AI job-replacement concerns — vividly captures the wider tensions tearing through the media industry.
Sources
- The Seattle Times and Newsday sue OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the companies trained AI on their journalism; Microsoft and OpenAI are funders of Seattle TimesGeekwire
- Seattle Times and Newsday are the latest publications to sue OpenAI and MicrosoftTechCrunch
- Seattle Times and Newsday sue OpenAI and Microsoft for infringementThe Verge