NYT Brief Cites Microsoft Executive’s Private Criticism of AI Training Practices
An unredacted brief in The New York Times’ copyright lawsuit cites internal Microsoft and OpenAI statements warning that AI products could undermine the publishers supplying their training material, TechCrunch reports. The brief also alleges paywall circumvention and removal of copyright notices, raising questions about content acquisition and market harm—not establishing that the companies broke the law.
The actual story.
TechCrunch’s September 17, 2026 report draws heavily on The Times’ own brief, rather than underlying exhibits, which it says remain sealed. The quoted internal statements therefore lack their original context. According to the report, the brief cites a January 2024 Microsoft presentation warning that AI answers could weaken the news businesses on which models depend. It also cites Microsoft data showing click-through rates to The Times falling by as much as 93% compared with traditional Bing search. That figure is a reported comparison, not evidence of a publisher-wide traffic decline. The article describes AI training’s copyright status as unresolved and says Microsoft and OpenAI did not respond to requests for comment.
The filing highlights a business contradiction: AI answers may depend on publishers while diverting their readers. The allegations and internal warnings are not a court ruling.
Receipts, not rumors.
Read the original reporting: TechCrunch ↗
The reporting above provides context. The meme is satire. AI helped draft this story; a human editor checked it before publication.
Got a better punchline?