Leading Indian media outlets, including digital news units of billionaires Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, have taken legal action against OpenAI, accusing the ChatGPT creator of using their copyrighted content without permission. Among the claimants are NDTV, owned by Adani, and Ambani's Network18, alongside prominent outlets such as The Indian Express and Hindustan Times, a report by Reuters said.
Several authors, news organisations, and musicians have gone to courts alleging that their copyrighted work has been used to train AI models without appropriate authorisation or compensation. India, with over 690 million smartphone users and a burgeoning digital economy fuelled by affordable data plans, has become a critical market for OpenAI.
The report said that Indian publishers, represented by the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), have expressed concerns about unauthorised scraping and reproduction of their content by AI tools like ChatGPT. They argue that OpenAI’s actions pose a significant threat to their copyrights and disrupt the balance of power in the digital advertising ecosystem. These claims are part of a 135-page legal filing that alleges OpenAI has engaged in "wilful scraping" and content adaptation to benefit its AI services, it added.
The lawsuit also highlights broader concerns regarding the dominance of tech companies in prioritising content and monopolising advertising revenue. The DNPA represents roughly 20 companies, including major players such as the India Today Group, Zee News, and Dainik Bhaskar. However, The Times of India, another DNPA member, has not joined the legal challenge, though no reasons for its absence were provided in the filing.
Indian news agency ANI also filed a case against OpenAI. In its response to the ANI lawsuit, OpenAI argued that Indian courts lack jurisdiction over copyright claims as the company’s servers are located abroad. It further stated that deleting training data, as requested, would breach its obligations under US law.
In the United States, similar issues have arisen, with The New York Times suing OpenAI and Microsoft in late 2023 for unauthorised use of its articles, Reuters added. Meanwhile, OpenAI has struck licensing deals with international media outlets, such as Time, Le Monde, and Business Insider, but has yet to establish similar agreements in India.
The report also said that the Indian publishers contend that OpenAI's reluctance to enter into such partnerships in India demonstrates a disregard for local laws and undermines the nation’s media industry. They warn that OpenAI’s profit-driven model, built on the creative output of the press, risks weakening democratic values by compromising the financial sustainability of the media sector.