USA Today Sues OpenAI for $250M+ Over Alleged Copyright Infringement in AI Training

USA Today Sues OpenAI for Copyright Infringement Over AI Training

USA Today Co. and several local newspapers it owns filed a lawsuit1

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against OpenAI in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, alleging the AI company engaged in copyright infringement by using their content without authorization to train its AI models. The publishers are seeking damages exceeding $250 million, claiming OpenAI's actions have caused "real and continuing" harm to their outlets.

The case, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York2

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and numbered 1:26-cv-08892, represents USA Today Co. through attorney Steven Lieberman of Rothwell Figg Ernst & Manbeck. Local newspapers included in the lawsuit are The Tennessean, Indy Star, The Columbus Dispatch, and The Oklahoman, among others.

OpenAI Accused of Large-Scale Unauthorized Use

The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI copied "hundreds of thousands" of articles from USA Today and its affiliated publications to train its large language models without ever requesting permission. "OpenAI's commercial success rests on large-scale copyright infringement," the filing states1

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. The publishers claim OpenAI "took" their content to "build products worth hundreds of billions of dollars" rather than licensing it properly.

This unauthorized use represents a fundamental challenge to how AI companies develop their models. Publishers argue that their journalism requires significant investment in reporting, writing, and editing, yet OpenAI has allegedly exploited this work without compensation or acknowledgment.

Growing Wave of Copyright Infringement Cases Against OpenAI

USA Today sues OpenAI as part of a mounting legal pressure facing the AI company from news outlets and publishers. OpenAI is already defending against a high-profile copyright lawsuit from The New York Times, as well as legal action from The Intercept, CNET owner Ziff Davis, CBC/Radio-Canada, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Merriam-Webster, and The Seattle Times1

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Most significantly, a coalition of nearly 400 local newspapers has also filed copyright infringement cases against OpenAI, demonstrating widespread concern across the journalism industry about AI training practices. These lawsuits collectively represent a critical test of how copyright law applies to artificial intelligence development and whether tech companies can use copyrighted material without permission to build commercial products.

What This Means for AI Development and Publishers

The lawsuit raises questions about the future of AI training and content licensing. If courts rule in favor of publishers, OpenAI and other AI companies may need to negotiate licensing agreements with content creators, potentially reshaping the economics of AI development. For publishers struggling with declining revenues, successful litigation could establish a new revenue stream and set precedents for how their content is used in the digital age.

Watch for how OpenAI responds to these accumulating legal challenges and whether the company will shift toward licensing agreements with publishers. The outcome of these copyright infringement cases will likely influence how other AI companies approach training data acquisition and could establish boundaries for what constitutes fair use in AI training. OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the USA Today lawsuit1

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