NYT and Daily News Push for Sanctions Against OpenAI Over Alleged Evidence Concealment

Legal Battle Against OpenAI Intensifies

According to НВ — Техно: On July 10, 2026, at 10:00 AM, The New York Times and the New York Daily News filed a motion in court demanding sanctions against OpenAI. The publishers accuse the company of hiding evidence in a lawsuit concerning the unauthorized use of journalistic content to train artificial intelligence. This case has been ongoing for two years. The plaintiffs claim that during an April deposition, OpenAI engineer Vinny Monaco disclosed internal audits of training data used to develop the company’s AI models.

The Stakes for Copyright Protection

According to submitted evidence, OpenAI created a database containing roughly 78 million anonymized ChatGPT conversations before the lawsuit was filed. Additionally, after litigation began, the company launched a system to track instances of content reproduction. The plaintiffs initially requested a sample of 120 million chats but later agreed to reduce that number to 20 million. The court deemed the provided materials unusable due to hidden segments. In response, OpenAI deleted billions of ChatGPT responses after the lawsuit was filed and replaced parts of the logs in the sample it had turned over.

OpenAI representative Drew Pusateri commented on the situation, stating that

“The New York Times is trying to access private user conversations because its legal position has weakened.”

He also added that

“OpenAI will continue to protect user privacy and the principle of fair use of materials.”

This case highlights the growing tension between copyright protection, data privacy, and the rapid evolution of AI technologies. It also underscores how legal disputes can shape the development and deployment of new learning models that rely on massive datasets. Future court rulings are expected to significantly influence data collection and usage practices across the AI industry.

The ongoing legal battles surrounding AI technology raise critical questions about copyright and the ethical use of journalistic content. Similar accusations have emerged against major AI companies, alleging that they have misappropriated vast amounts of articles, leading to significant financial losses for publishers. For a deeper understanding of these issues and their implications for the future of media, see how AI giants face allegations of article theft.