Wikimedia files amicus brief on AI training and chatbot copying in OpenAI, Microsoft suits

The Wikimedia Foundation filed an amicus brief in publisher lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft, including one brought by The New York Times, without taking either side.

The brief argues that scraping websites should not count as copyright infringement, and that using copyrighted works to pre-train large language models without a license should be fair use when the models provide "something new and different from the original sources," according to a Wikimedia blog post.

The foundation says a different rule should apply when a model pulls copies of material in response to user queries and delivers them to users "while supplanting readers' engagement with those original works." In that case, it argues, a license should be required. Wikimedia warns that overly black-and-white rulings could deprive Wikipedia editors of AI tools or endanger the open web, according to The Verge.