The New York Times Co. v. Microsoft Corp. & OpenAI — Copyright Infringement (S.D.N.Y.)
S.D.N.Y. · The New York Times Co. v. Microsoft Corp., No. 1:23-cv-11195 (S.D.N.Y.)
The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft in December 2023, alleging the companies copied millions of Times articles to train GPT models and that ChatGPT regurgitates Times content verbatim. The case is the most consequential of the news-publisher AI training-data suits and is in discovery; in March 2025 Judge Sidney Stein largely denied OpenAI's motion to dismiss, allowing the direct, contributory, and DMCA claims to proceed. On July 9, 2026, the NYT and Daily News filed a motion to sanction OpenAI, alleging OpenAI concealed evidence. On August 6, 2026, Judge Stein denied the NYT's motion to amend its complaint to add Microsoft-specific contributory infringement claims, ruling the motion was untimely given the US Supreme Court's March 2026 ruling raising the bar for platform liability.
Technical detail
The New York Times Co. v. Microsoft Corp., No. 1:23-cv-11195 (S.D.N.Y., filed Dec. 27, 2023; Judge Sidney H. Stein). Claims: direct copyright infringement, vicarious / contributory infringement, DMCA § 1202 (removal of copyright-management information), common-law unfair competition by misappropriation, trademark dilution. March 26, 2025 Opinion & Order: motion to dismiss denied as to direct infringement, contributory infringement, and DMCA claims; trademark dilution and certain state-law claims dismissed. Consolidated for pretrial purposes with the Daily News, Center for Investigative Reporting, and other publisher cases as In re OpenAI ChatGPT Litigation (MDL-3143 pending) — informal coordination before Judge Stein. Discovery ongoing. July 9, 2026: NYT and Daily News group filed motion for sanctions against OpenAI, alleging OpenAI hid evidence of its ability to search chat-log and training-dataset records for copyrighted works; OpenAI response pending. August 6, 2026: Judge Stein denied NYT's motion to amend complaint to add Microsoft-specific 'inducement' and 'services tailored to infringement' contributory theories, ruling the amendment was too late following the US Supreme Court's March 2026 ruling raising the bar for platform contributory liability.
Who is protected: Copyright holders whose works were allegedly used to train OpenAI's GPT models without license
Who must comply: OpenAI (developer), Microsoft (Azure host and commercial distributor of GPT models)
Key facts
| Jurisdiction | S.D.N.Y. |
|---|---|
| Level | Federal |
| Status | Blocked / in litigation |
| Protection strength | Moderate protection |
| Effective date | 2023-12-27 |
| Citation | The New York Times Co. v. Microsoft Corp., No. 1:23-cv-11195 (S.D.N.Y.) |
| Topics | copyright and training data · AI disclosure and transparency |
| Last verified | 2026-08-09 |
| Official source | NYT v. Microsoft / OpenAI — CourtListener docket 1:23-cv-11195 ↗ |
More AI rules in S.D.N.Y.
- Authors Guild v. OpenAI · Blocked / in litigation
- CIR v. OpenAI · Blocked / in litigation
- Daily News v. OpenAI · Blocked / in litigation
- Intercept v. OpenAI · Blocked / in litigation
- UMG v. Udio · Blocked / in litigation
- Lehrman v. Lovo · Blocked / in litigation
Related copyright and training data rules elsewhere
- Hachette v. Google (Gemini AI copyright) · Blocked / in litigation
- Copyright Office AI Guidance · In effect
- USPTO AI Inventorship Guidance · Repealed / replaced
- Tremblay v. OpenAI · Blocked / in litigation
- Silverman v. OpenAI · Blocked / in litigation
- Kadrey v. Meta · Blocked / in litigation
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