Unsealed Docs Show Microsoft, OpenAI Feared News Content Use Could Be 'Theft'
MSFT sits 42% above its 52-week low of $349.2.
Summary
Unsealed court documents in the New York Times copyright case reveal internal Microsoft and OpenAI discussions acknowledging risks in using news content for AI training. Microsoft's Director of Applied Science Brent Hecht reportedly warned the practice could amount to widespread theft of publishers' work, while OpenAI's Nick Turley called AI an 'existential threat' to publishers. Microsoft data showed click-through rates for some news organizations fell as much as 93%. Microsoft argues its AI products are transformative fair use and that Hecht's comments were personal views. This adds legal and reputational risk to Microsoft's AI strategy, already under scrutiny amid massive AI investments.
At the time of this announcement, MSFT was trading at $495.14 on NASDAQ in the Technology sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $3.7T. The 52-week trading range was $349.20 to $553.72. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: dpa-AFX.