Asian News International (ANI), one of India’s largest news agencies, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging unauthorized use and storage of its copyrighted content to train the company’s Large Language Models (LLMs).
According to a report by Bloomberg, the case was presented in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday.
Represented by lawyer Sidhant Kumar, ANI is seeking initial damages of 20 million rupees ($236,910).
The agency also claims OpenAI used its data to enhance the training of its LLMs.
OpenAI’s lawyer, Amit Sibal, argued that the lawsuit lacks jurisdiction since OpenAI does not operate servers or conduct model training in India.
He also informed the court that ANI’s content is currently blocked on OpenAI’s platform, asserting that this undermines ANI’s claims.
This lawsuit marks the first of its kind against OpenAI in India, highlighting the increasing scrutiny of artificial intelligence technologies and their compliance with copyright laws.
The outcome of this case could have broader implications for how AI companies handle copyrighted content globally, particularly in jurisdictions with diverse legal frameworks.
The case in India adds to the growing number of legal challenges OpenAI faces worldwide, as concerns mount over the ethical and legal implications of training AI models using copyrighted material.
Naijaonpoint had earlier reported that the New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for unauthorized use of its published works to train their artificial intelligence tool, ChatGPT.
In the complaints, the publishing company raised concerns about the uncompensated use of intellectual property by AI systems and accused OpenAI and Microsoft of using its content without payment to create products that substitute for it and even take its audience away.