OpenAI denies using Indian media groups' content to train ChatGPT

OpenAI is seeking to stop Indian media groups, including those of Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, from joining a copyright lawsuit against the US company, saying it does not use their content to train ChatGPT, a legal filing seen by Reuters shows.

The Microsoft-backed company said that it is not obligated to enter into partnership deals with the media groups to utilise their content which is publicly available, the 31-page OpenAI court filing, reported by Reuters for the first time, showed.

The filing relates to a lawsuit by Indian news agency ANI last year, which alleges that ChatGPT uses its published content without permission to help train its artificial intelligence chatbot. Since then book publishers and media groups in India have banded together to join the proceedings.

Adani's NDTV, the Indian Express, the Hindustan Times and Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), which represents many including Ambani's Network18, allege that OpenAI is using their news websites to scrape content and reproduce their work on ChatGPT.

OpenAI's filing, dated February 11, said the company denies it "has used any of the applicants' or the DNPA's members content" to train its AI models.

OpenAI and its lawyer did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The DNPA and the other news outlets did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

OpenAI has previously said in a statement: "We build our AI models using publicly available data, in a manner protected by fair use and related principles, and supported by long-standing and widely accepted legal precedents."

Courts around the world are hearing claims by authors, news organisations and musicians which allege technology companies are using their copyrighted work to train AI services without permission or payment.

OpenAI has signed deals with many news publishers globally to display content. But the Indian groups have alleged in their legal submissions that the U.S. company has not entered into similar deals in India.

OpenAI's filing said its other partnerships abroad are simply not "licensing arrangements for the purpose of training" its AI models. The company also said in the filing that the use of content, which is publicly available, is permissible under Indian copyright law.

Last week, while on an Asian tour, OpenAI chief Sam Altman visited India and met India's IT minister in New Delhi and discussed the country's plan of creating a low-cost AI ecosystem.