OpenAI Claims The New York Times Paid Someone To 'Hack' Its Products (Images: Unsplash)

OpenAI, the popular artificial intelligence (AI) company, alleged that the New York Times “paid someone to hack OpenAI’s products.” OpenAI raised this allegation in response to The New York Times” lawsuit against the AI giant regarding copyright infringement. OpenAI has also asked the US district court to dismiss the case.

“The allegations in the Times’s Complaint do not meet its famously rigorous journalistic standards,” said OpenAI in a filing in Manhattan federal court. OpenAI noted that ChatGPT “is not in any way a substitute for a subscription to The New York Times.” The AI startup also added that people do not use ChatGPT or any other OpenAI product for that purpose in the real world.

OpenAI alleged that the publication “hacked” ChatGPT to generate misleading evidence in support of its case. However, the Microsoft-backed company has not revealed any details regarding the specific individual or entity responsible for the alleged hacking. The company also argued that the Times does not have ownership of facts and language. At the same time, the New York Times, in a statement to Forbes, disputed the claim that it used “hacking.”

In December 2023, the New York Times filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming that both firms are using millions of the newspaper’s articles without permission to help train the chatbots. The Times was the first major media organisation to sue AI companies over copyright infringement. The Times also claimed in its lawsuit that OpenAI models generate content similar to that generated by the newspaper. Notably, several copyright owners, including authors and music publishers, have reportedly sued tech giants over the alleged misuse of their work in AI training.