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New Docs in AI Copyright Suit Reveal Startling Admission by Microsoft Exec over ‘Astonishing Theft’

Internal filings say OpenAI and Microsoft bypassed paywalls and stripped copyright notices, while Microsoft data showed Copilot cut New York Times clicks by 93%.

  • New court documents unsealed Thursday reveal Microsoft and OpenAI executives privately admitted their scraping practices pose an "existential threat" to news publishers, potentially undermining their legal defense.
  • The New York Times and other outlets filed a landmark copyright lawsuit three years ago alleging the companies violated copyright law by training generative AI models on stolen content without compensation.
  • Microsoft Director of Applied Science Brent Hecht internally described the data scraping as "an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions," while OpenAI leadership allegedly used hacks to bypass paywalls for training data.
  • Attorneys for the news publishers argue these internal admissions prove the companies knowingly committed theft, rejecting claims that their products transform content in a manner consistent with fair use.
  • Internal data shows ChatGPT prompts for reliable reporting reach about 1 million per week, largely substituting for paid subscriptions, as industry experts warn this "doom loop" threatens local news economics.
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mediagazer.com broke the news on Thursday, September 17, 2026.
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