Trump administration backs OpenAI in New York Times copyright battle
The Trump administration just sided with OpenAI against the New York Times in a landmark copyright case—reshaping how AI training data legally works.
Why it matters
A government filing in a major copyright lawsuit signals how policy and regulation around AI training data will develop. For practitioners building with scraped or licensed data, this court fight determines whether training on copyrighted material remains legally viable or faces new restrictions.
The key facts
5 to knowTrump administration filed brief urging court to reject NYT's claim that training AI on copyrighted content is illegal
Case: New York Times v. OpenAI (ongoing)
Filing challenges the core legal argument that model training on copyrighted material constitutes infringement
Outcome will affect licensing practices, training data strategies, and compliance posture across AI companies
Published September 2, 2026
Go to the source
Financial Times Technologyft.com
Publisher excerpt: US urges court to reject newspaper’s claim that it is illegal to train AI models on copyrighted content