WorkSeptember 17, 2026via TechCrunch AI
Microsoft exec called AI scraping ‘the largest theft of labor in human history,’ new unredacted filings reveal
Why it matters
High-stakes litigation over AI training data practices is exposing internal contradictions at the largest AI companies and raising hard questions about how models are built and who bears the cost. This will shape regulation, licensing models, and what 'legitimate' training looks like.
Key signals
- Microsoft internally characterized AI data scraping as 'theft of labor'
- Court filings unsealed showing previously redacted statements
- Microsoft and OpenAI both scraped paywalled New York Times content
- Internal warnings that scraping would 'gut publishers'
- Litigation context: ongoing legal battles over training data rights
- Hypocrisy narrative: companies accused of the practice while condemning it privately
The hook
Microsoft's own lawyers called AI scraping 'the largest theft of labor in human history'—while doing it themselves. Court filings just unsealed the hypocrisy.
Newly unsealed court filings show Microsoft privately called OpenAI's data practices "theft" while both companies scraped paywalled Times content, built datasets from it, and warned internally it would gut publishers.