Microsoft exec called AI scraping the “largest theft of labor in human history”
Summary
Internal documents reveal Microsoft and OpenAI knew using news articles to train AI like ChatGPT would harm news organizations by reducing their website visits and income. Microsoft’s Brent Hecht called this large-scale copying “the largest theft of labor in human history,” while OpenAI staff warned it threatens news publishers’ survival.Key Facts
- Microsoft and OpenAI used news content without permission to train their AI models.
- Microsoft Director Brent Hecht described this practice as massive theft and said it mocks the idea of “fair use.”
- OpenAI’s ChatGPT lead said AI products trained on news pose an “existential threat” to publishers.
- Microsoft documents warned the AI could create a “doom loop” hurting both AI quality and the news industry.
- Data showed big drops (up to 93%) in user clicks on news sites after AI chatbots provided answers directly.
- Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella admitted chatbots steal clicks by giving users information without sending them to news sites.
- Internal OpenAI messages revealed they found ways to bypass news paywalls to access content.
- News organizations are preparing to sue, arguing AI chatbots replace their services and copy article content verbatim.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.
