Digital news divisions of Indian billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, as well as other major media organizations, have joined a lawsuit accusing ChatGPT maker OpenAI of using their copyrighted content without authorization, Reuters reported.
In a filing submitted to a New Delhi court, Ambani’s Network18 group and Adani’s NDTV said they are concerned their news sites are being “scraped” and repurposed by OpenAI to train the company’s artificial intelligence technology.
Other Indian media giants joins the battle
Joining them are the Indian Express and Hindustan Times, as well as members of the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), which includes about 20 outlets such as Dainik Bhaskar, Zee News, India Today Group and The Hindu.
The report noted that the 135-page case filing describes OpenAI’s alleged content collection and use as a “clear and present danger” to the news groups’ copyrights.
It accuses the San Francisco-based AI gaint of engaging in “willful scraping” and exploiting publishers’ work to attract advertising revenue, while leaving content creators out of any financial benefits.
Notably, The Times of India is not part of the legal challenge despite being member of the DNPA.
Ongoing battle between ANI and OpenAI
This legal challenge follows a broader global trend in which authors, musicians and news organizations are pushing back against technology companies they say are training AI models on protected content without permission or compensation.
In India, the matter first drew attention last year when local news agency ANI filed an initial lawsuit against the Sam Altman-led company.
The new intervention by the Indian media companies is expected to add significant momentum to ANI’s case, which is widely seen as the country’s most high-profile legal action on the issue. A hearing in the ANI lawsuit is scheduled for Tuesday.
OpenAI's legal battle with American media giants
Similar complaints have surfaced overseas. In December 2023, the New York Times sued OpenAI and its largest financial backer, Microsoft, claiming millions of articles were used without permission to train chatbots that provide information to users.
Responding to the ANI suit in India, OpenAI argued in a court filing that it would be unable to delete data used for training without violating U.S. legal obligations, and that Indian courts lack jurisdiction over the matter because its servers are located abroad.
In recent months, OpenAI has struck content-sharing agreements with international outlets including Time magazine, the Financial Times, and Axel Springer-owned Business Insider, among others.