In what could be the first major legal salvo fired between traditional journalism and the emerging technology of artificial intelligence, The New York Times filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI on Wednesday.

Alleging that the tech companies are using and misusing the newspaper's copyrighted material without its permission, NYT claims that Microsoft and OpenAI, founder of chatbot ChatGPT, is infringing upon its intellectual property.

NYT's lawsuit claims that the companies' AI technology illegally copied millions of its articles to train ChatGPT and other services to provide users with information. Many of those AI programs compete with the newspaper's print and online products.

In the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, NYT said that Microsoft and OpenAI's "unlawful use of The Times's work to create artificial intelligence products that compete with it threatens The Times's ability to provide that service."

NYT also accused the tech companies of choosing "to free-ride on The Times's massive investment in its journalism by using it to build substitutive products without permission or payment."

NYT is one of numerous media outlets taking action against the tech companies introducing advanced AI models, claiming they are using copyrighted materials to train their chatbots. The lawsuit could open a new chapter in media law and uncharted territory into regulating AI.

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