Severe Criticism of AI Scraping Activity by Microsoft Executive

Newly unredacted documents emerging from The New York Times' copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft reveal that a high-ranking Microsoft executive described AI data scraping practices as the largest theft of labor in human history.

What the Unredacted Documents Reveal

Newly unredacted court documents submitted in the copyright lawsuit filed by The New York Times contain striking details about artificial intelligence training activities.

These documents lay bare the severe threat that companies' artificial intelligence products pose to publishers and the internal debates surrounding data collection methods.

Characterization as Historic Theft

It was understood that in private correspondence, a Microsoft executive described AI data scraping processes as unprecedented theft and the largest theft of labor in human history.

Additionally, information included in the case file shows that companies removed copyright notices and secretly bypassed paywalls.

Traffic Losses and Doom Loop

According to Microsoft data, the use of the Copilot search engine caused a significant drop in click-through rates to The New York Times website.

In a presentation prepared by a director within Microsoft, this situation was characterized as a doom loop that generates negative outcomes for publishers.

Executive Statements and Future Concerns

While Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated in his deposition that paid content should be licensed, OpenAI leaders also acknowledged that the models constitute an existential threat to publishers.

Details of special projects such as Project Taxi and Project Mango were also shared in the court filings.