WorkSeptember 2, 2026via The Verge AI
The Trump administration is supporting OpenAI in the NYT copyright lawsuit
Why it matters
Government intervention in the NYT-OpenAI copyright fight signals the regulatory environment AI labs operate in. A favorable ruling could unlock training on copyrighted data; an adverse one could force retraining pipelines and data-licensing deals across the industry.
Key signals
- Trump administration filed statement of interest supporting OpenAI in NYT lawsuit
- NYT lawsuit filed December 2023, seeks billions in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft
- Core claim: OpenAI trained models on NYT articles without license
- Administration argues fair-use doctrine should permit LLM training on copyrighted text
- Landmark case—outcome will set precedent for AI training practices industry-wide
The hook
The Trump administration just sided with OpenAI in the NYT copyright case—a regulatory signal that will reshape AI training law.
The Trump administration has intervened in The New York Times' copyright lawsuit against OpenAI, making an argument in favor of the AI lab.
The landmark lawsuit, filed in December 2023, alleging that OpenAI unlawfully trained its AI systems on articles from The New York Times and seeks to recoup "b…