Encyclopedia Britannica and its Merriam-Webster subsidiary have sued OpenAI in Manhattan federal court for allegedly misusing their reference materials to train its artificial intelligence models.
Britannica said in the complaint filed on Friday that Microsoft-backed OpenAI used its âonline articles â and encyclopedia â and dictionary entries to teach its flagship chatbot ChatGPT to respond to human prompts and "cannibalized" Britannica's web traffic with AI-generated summaries of its content.
Spokespeople for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the complaint on âMonday.
The case is one of many â high-stakes lawsuits filed âby copyright owners including authors and ânews outlets âagainst tech companies for using their material â to train AI systems without permission. Britannica filed âa related lawsuit against artificial intelligence startup âPerplexity AI last year that is still ongoing.
AI companies have argued that their systems make fair use of copyrighted content by transforming it into something new.
Britannica's lawsuit said that OpenAI unlawfully copied nearly 100,000 of âits articles to train GPT large language models. The complaint said that ChatGPT produces "near-verbatim" copies âof Britannica's âencyclopedia entries, â dictionary definitions and other content, diverting users who would otherwise visit its websites.
Britannica also accused OpenAI of infringing its trademarks âby implying that it has permission to reproduce its material and wrongfully citing Britannica in false AI "hallucinations."
Britannica requested an unspecified amount of monetary damages and a court order blocking the alleged infringement.
Britannica said in the complaint filed on Friday that Microsoft-backed OpenAI used its âonline articles â and encyclopedia â and dictionary entries to teach its flagship chatbot ChatGPT to respond to human prompts and "cannibalized" Britannica's web traffic with AI-generated summaries of its content.
Spokespeople for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the complaint on âMonday.
The case is one of many â high-stakes lawsuits filed âby copyright owners including authors and ânews outlets âagainst tech companies for using their material â to train AI systems without permission. Britannica filed âa related lawsuit against artificial intelligence startup âPerplexity AI last year that is still ongoing.
AI companies have argued that their systems make fair use of copyrighted content by transforming it into something new.
Britannica's lawsuit said that OpenAI unlawfully copied nearly 100,000 of âits articles to train GPT large language models. The complaint said that ChatGPT produces "near-verbatim" copies âof Britannica's âencyclopedia entries, â dictionary definitions and other content, diverting users who would otherwise visit its websites.
Britannica also accused OpenAI of infringing its trademarks âby implying that it has permission to reproduce its material and wrongfully citing Britannica in false AI "hallucinations."
Britannica requested an unspecified amount of monetary damages and a court order blocking the alleged infringement.
Meridiano
