OpenAI vs. the media: The ruling that redefines the future of journalism By: Ingrid Motta

OpenAI scored a victory in the lawsuit filed by Raw Story and Alternet Media, questioning the use of journalistic content to train its artificial intelligence (AI) model. Judge Colleen McMahon found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate concrete harm that warranted legal action, resulting in a ruling favorable to the company. The lawsuit accused OpenAI of using thousands of articles without permission, removing copyright information such as author names and titles, which the plaintiffs said violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This ruling, although temporary, highlights the transformation faced by the creative industries in the face of technological innovations and underscores the need for news media to radically adapt their business models to ensure their survival in an ever-changing landscape.

Without falling into deregulation or permissiveness towards the use of copyrighted content – especially without compensation for creators – this triumph of OpenAI underlines the need to transform the current landscape to ensure coexistence between the digital publishing world and technological platforms. The decision highlights that the use of data for training AI models can foster innovation and technological advancement, with benefits for multiple economic sectors. In addition, it could set a precedent to reduce future litigation related to the use of data in the development of artificial intelligence.

To survive in a hyperconnected world, driven by the growing presence of AI, media outlets must transform their relationship with technology companies and consider them strategic allies in the creation and distribution of content. This approach involves the development of differentiated algorithms with specific licenses for corporate AI trainings, which would allow media outlets to preserve their reputation while also ensuring fair and consistent compensation for content creators. A successful example of this model is the record industry, which has been able to license its catalogs for the training of algorithms on platforms such as Spotify, ensuring recurring revenue. Similarly, publishers could explore co-subscription models, collaborating with technology platforms to offer blended access to content, incentivizing users to pay for more comprehensive services, and opening up new revenue channels for both AI platforms and publishers.

The proliferation of content generated by artificial intelligence emphasizes the importance of betting on the creation of quality and depth content, something that the media can take advantage of to differentiate themselves. By generating exclusive content, such as investigative reporting or in-depth analysis, publishers could attract audiences willing to pay for subscriptions or access premium news services that are difficult to replicate by algorithms. In parallel, the adoption of advanced technologies such as blockchain could help track and protect content, facilitating the implementation of automated payment systems. These tools would allow to generate constant revenue every time a piece of content was reused, even by other AI platforms, thus ensuring the economic sustainability of the media in the long term.

As users, we must recognize that reliable and quality content requires our economic contribution. In an era dominated by disinformation and algorithmic manipulation, the value of human journalism is more relevant than ever. This ruling against the media should become a catalyst to promote regulations that protect the rights of creators in an ethical and economic framework. In this way, coexistence between technology companies and the news media would be guaranteed, promoting mutual benefits without hindering technological progress, but from a responsible and balanced perspective.