The Times and many companies are accusing OpenAI of misusing their material to train AI systems without compensation

The Trump administration is supporting OpenAI in ⁠a lawsuit against the New York Times, arguing in favor of the use of copyrighted writing to train artificial intelligence.

The Times accuses OpenAI and its largest financial backer, Microsoft, of using millions of newspaper articles without permission to train OpenAI’s popular chatbot. Other newspapers have joined in the suit, first filed in 2023.

In a brief filed in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, the US government weighed in for the first time on lawsuits over the tense battle over AI and copyright. A brief has advisory rather than legal weight but could bolster tech ⁠companies as they fight the claims.

“The United States has a strong interest in continuing to develop a robust and competitive artificial intelligence industry that sets the standard for the practice and procedure of AI use globally … As such, it is critical for the United States to ‘retain global leadership in artificial intelligence’,” the brief said.