ChatGPT Owner Admits to Needing Copyrighted Material to Train Its AI Tools

OpenAI — the developer of ChatGPT, a chatbot that shook things up in 2023 — has said that it would not be able to train its tools and products without having access to copyrighted materials in a statement made to the House of Lords communications and digital select committee.

In its statement, OpenAI stated that not being able to use copyrighted materials for training “would not provide AI systems that meet the needs of today’s citizens.”

This comes after a number of lawsuits. Fall last year, about 20 authors sued OpenAI for copyright infringement, and just last month, the New York Times sued Open AI and Microsoft for the same thing. OpenAI has made a statement on the New York Times suit on its site, saying that they “believe the New York Times lawsuit is without merit.”

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