Seattle Times and Newsday Sue OpenAI and Microsoft Over Training Data
The Seattle Times and Newsday have filed suit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging their journalism was used without permission to train AI models like ChatGPT.
The Seattle Times and Newsday filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft on September 5, 2026, accusing the companies of using their published journalism without permission to train AI models including ChatGPT and CoPilot. The suit warns that generative AI could destroy the news organizations it feeds on. The filing adds to a growing list of copyright cases against AI labs, starting with The New York Times' lawsuit in 2023, and carries extra weight because Microsoft and OpenAI have previously funded Seattle Times journalism projects.
What happened
| Detail | Fact |
|---|---|
| Plaintiffs | The Seattle Times and Newsday |
| Defendants | OpenAI and Microsoft |
| Filing date | September 5, 2026 |
| AI products named | ChatGPT and CoPilot |
| First major precedent | New York Times lawsuit filed in 2023 |
Two news publishers filed a joint copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, arguing that both companies trained their AI products on copyrighted journalism without authorization. The complaint describes generative AI as “a snake eating its own tail” that could “destroy the very organizations” whose work it relies on to function.
The lawsuit characterizes ChatGPT and CoPilot not as content creators but as what it calls “rapacious consumers,” absorbing human-authored articles and returning “copies and derivative imitations” of that content to serve commercial ends. The plaintiffs warn the journalism industry could become “broken beyond repair” if this continues unchecked.
Why does the Seattle Times case stand out?
The filing carries an unusual contradiction: Microsoft and OpenAI have both previously funded journalism projects and fellowships at The Seattle Times. A Microsoft spokesperson told GeekWire the company is “surprised by the lawsuit” but is “always happy to sit down and explore solutions to this type of dispute.”
That funding relationship makes the legal move harder to dismiss as opportunistic. The Seattle Times is not a publication that had no prior contact with these companies. It took their money for journalism programs, and is now alleging those same companies took its work without proper license or compensation.
A pattern of lawsuits building since 2023
The New York Times was the first major news outlet to sue OpenAI and Microsoft, filing in 2023 on copyright infringement grounds. Other publications joined as that case progressed. The Seattle Times and Newsday filing continues a wave that shows no sign of stopping as more publishers assess how their archives may have been used in training datasets.
For context on the broader risks AI agents pose, our coverage of OpenAI’s pattern of agent escapes with no formal investigation process shows this is not the only governance gap the company faces right now.
Our take
This lawsuit matters to anyone who produces written content online, not just newsrooms. If courts find that scraping and training on copyrighted text requires a license, it reshapes the economics of every AI product built on web data. Publishers with a paper trail of prior partnership with these AI companies, like The Seattle Times, make particularly strong plaintiffs because they undercut the “open web” defense OpenAI often leans on.
For businesses using AI-generated content in marketing or SEO campaigns, the outcome of cases like this will eventually determine what guardrails AI vendors have to operate under. That affects the quality, originality, and legal exposure of content those tools produce. Watch the New York Times case for early rulings; what happens there sets the template for the rest.
What to do about it
- Track the New York Times v. OpenAI case for early procedural rulings, as its findings will likely influence this filing.
- Review your own AI content workflows: document which tools you use and what their terms of service say about training data and copyright indemnification.
- If you publish original research, journalism, or proprietary content, check whether your Terms of Use explicitly prohibit AI scraping (many do not).
- Consult a media or IP lawyer if your business relies heavily on AI-generated content, especially content that mimics or summarizes third-party sources.
The safest position right now is to treat AI-generated content as a drafting aid, not a replacement for original work your business actually owns.
Frequently asked questions
Why are The Seattle Times and Newsday suing OpenAI and Microsoft?
The two publishers filed suit on September 5, 2026, alleging that OpenAI and Microsoft used their copyrighted journalism without permission to train AI models including ChatGPT and CoPilot.
Was The Seattle Times in a partnership with OpenAI or Microsoft before the lawsuit?
Yes. According to the reporting, Microsoft and OpenAI had previously funded journalism projects and fellowships at The Seattle Times, making the lawsuit particularly notable.
Which news outlet sued OpenAI first?
The New York Times was the first major news publisher to sue OpenAI and Microsoft, filing its copyright infringement lawsuit in 2023.
What do the publishers want from the lawsuit against OpenAI?
The complaint argues that AI products consume copyrighted journalism and return derivative imitations of it, and warns that without legal intervention the journalism industry could become 'broken beyond repair.' Specific damages or relief sought were not detailed in the source.
