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One of India’s largest news agencies, Asian News International, has sued OpenAI in a case that could set a precedent for how AI companies use copyrighted news content in the world’s most populous country.
Asian News International filed a 287-page lawsuit in the Delhi High Court on Monday, alleging that the AI company illegally used its content to train its AI models and produced false information attributed to the news agency. The case marks the first time an Indian media organization has taken legal action against OpenAI over copyright claims.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Justice Amit Bansal issued summons to OpenAI after the company confirmed that it had already ensured that ChatGPT did not reach ANI’s website. The court said it was not inclined to issue an injunction on Tuesday because the case required a detailed hearing as it was a “complex matter.”
The next hearing is scheduled for January.
“We take great care in our products and design process to support news organizations,” an OpenAI spokesperson told TechCrunch in a statement. “We are actively engaged in partnerships and constructive conversations with several news organizations around the world, including India, to explore opportunities, listen to feedback, and work collaboratively.”
The lawsuit adds to growing global pressure on AI companies over their use of copyrighted material. OpenAI currently faces more than a dozen similar lawsuits in the United States, two in Canada and one in Germany, according to statements made in court.
Amit Sibal, an advisor to OpenAI, defended the company’s practices, arguing that copyright laws don’t protect facts and that ChatGPT allows websites to opt out of data collection. He added that the Microsoft-backed company has no servers in India and asserts that the lawsuit lacks jurisdiction.
ANI’s lawyer, Siddhant Kumar of law firm UNUM Law, responded that general availability does not grant rights to exploit content. The agency expressed particular concern over ChatGPT attributing fabricated interviews to ANI, including a non-existent conversation with Rahul Gandhi, who leads the party opposing the current party in power.
In its lawsuit, the national news agency claimed that such “hallucinations” pose a real threat to the news agency’s reputation, and that the spread of fake news could lead to public chaos.
The court plans to appoint an independent expert to advise on the copyright implications of AI models that use publicly available content. The judge will examine additional technical aspects of how news content spreads across multiple platforms in future hearings.
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