Indian media pile into lawsuit against OpenAI chatbot ChatGPT
India's biggest news organisations, including The Indian Express, The Hindu, The India Today group, NDTV, and several others are looking to join a lawsuit against OpenAI, the US startup responsible for ChatGPT, over alleged unauthorized use of their content.
OpenAI has refuted these claims, stating that they utilize "publicly available data" within the boundaries of "widely accepted legal precedents." The company's CEO, Sam Altman, recently visited Delhi to engage in discussions with IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw regarding India's strategy for establishing a low-cost AI ecosystem.
Legal Battle and Allegations
In November, Asian News International (ANI), India's largest news agency, initiated legal proceedings against OpenAI, marking the first case of its kind in the country. ANI has accused ChatGPT of infringing upon its copyrighted material, a claim that OpenAI strongly refutes. The news agency is seeking damages totaling 20 million rupees ($230,000; £185,000).
Chatbots like ChatGPT rely on extensive datasets obtained by scouring the internet for information. The vast amount of content generated by nearly 450 news channels and 17,000 newspapers in India presents a lucrative resource for such technology.
Implications and Future Outlook
The outcome of the lawsuit filed by ANI could potentially shape the operations of AI models going forward, determining the extent to which copyrighted news content can be utilized to train generative AI models like ChatGPT. The verdict may lead to an influx of legal cases and pave the way for AI companies to establish licensing agreements with content creators.
ANI alleges that despite efforts to restrict access to its content, ChatGPT continues to extract information from its subscribers' websites, enriching OpenAI at ANI's expense. The news agency emphasizes that ChatGPT sometimes reproduces its content verbatim, attributing statements falsely to ANI, thereby affecting its credibility and misleading the public.
Global Ramifications and Industry Response
With OpenAI facing multiple lawsuits worldwide over content usage, the legal battle in India could set a precedent for similar cases globally. Stakeholders, including publishers and news outlets, are closely monitoring the developments, with implications that could reshape the landscape of AI regulation and content ownership.
As governments grapple with regulating AI technologies, the ANI-OpenAI case underscores the importance of evaluating data sources and the responsible use of AI. The European Union and other jurisdictions have already taken steps to regulate AI, reflecting a growing awareness of the ethical and legal implications of artificial intelligence.
