Microsoft Employees Raise Concerns Over AI Data Scraping in Lawsuit Against OpenAI

Court documents from a lawsuit filed by the New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft reveal that Microsoft employees expressed serious concerns regarding the use of news articles for training AI models. Internal discussions characterized this practice as potentially 'the largest labor theft in human history,' warning that it could lead to a 'doom loop' affecting the quality of AI models.

An internal memo from 2023, authored by Brent Hecht, Director of Applied Science at Microsoft, cautioned that millions globally might perceive the use of their works by large AI models as an unprecedented theft. Hecht's memo suggested that such models could ultimately undermine their own supply chains. Microsoft clarified that these views do not reflect the company's official stance, as Hecht's role is to present diverse perspectives.

During the proceedings, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified that any content behind a paywall should be authorized for use, indicating that had he known OpenAI was utilizing paid content, he would have insisted on retraining the model. The lawsuit, initiated by the New York Times in late 2023, has since attracted 11 additional publishers, all contesting the legality of the AI training practices under the fair use doctrine.

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Source: KLEA News