New legal filings in the Authors Guild v. OpenAI lawsuit reveal that executives and employees at OpenAI and Microsoft intentionally used copyrighted books to train their AI products. The documents, released in late September, allege that the companies acted with knowledge of the potential damage to authors, publishers, and culture.
LawsuitsOpenAIMicrosoftAuthors Guild
New Filings in Authors Guild v. OpenAI Allege Intentional Copyright Infringement
The plaintiffs, which include the Authors Guild and several prominent writers such as George R.R. Martin and John Grisham, argue that OpenAI's GPT models pose an "existential threat" to those who write and publish books. According to the filings, the developers were aware that their actions could put thousands of writers out of work.
Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild, stated that the filings show a "shocking disdain for writers," describing OpenAI's actions as a "mass piracy scheme" carried out despite evidence that it would substitute human works with AI-generated content.
The case is part of multidistrict litigation against the defendants in Manhattan. Legal proceedings are expected to continue with a hearing anticipated in early 2027.
Sources
- OpenAI Feared "Optics" of what might appear on Hacker News （Hacker News Frontpage, 2026-09-27）