Microsoft exec called AI scraping ‘the largest theft of labor in human history,’ new unredacted filings reveal
ThinkingNews Desk · how this was written
Microsoft executives have described AI web scraping as “the largest theft of labor in human history.” The comments refer to OpenAI’s use of large-scale web data to train its models, a practice that the executives say directly substitutes for the original content it copies. The remarks were made in internal discussions and have been disclosed in recent filings.
Written from all 3 reports below, not from any single one.
How it was reported
- TechCrunch·Microsoft exec called AI scraping ‘the largest theft of labor in human history,’ new unredacted filings reveal
Unredacted filings in The New York Times' copyright lawsuit reveal Microsoft and OpenAI executives privately acknowledged their AI training practices as theft and an existential threat to journalism. Internal Microsoft data shows Copilot reduced click-through rates for the publisher by 93%, confirming the technology directly substitutes for the original content it scrapes.
- Ars Technica·Microsoft exec called AI scraping the “largest theft of labor in human history”
- Engadget·Microsoft executive called OpenAI's web scraping the 'largest theft of labor in human history'
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