Court filings unsealed on 2026-09-17 in The New York Times' copyright case show Microsoft applied-science director Brent Hecht called AI data scraping 'the largest theft of labor in human history,' while OpenAI's leadership described ChatGPT as an 'existential threat' to publishers. Both companies had scraped paywalled news content.
No BS check run yet — press ⚖ to extract this story's claims and verify them against independent sources.
Newly unsealed court filings show Microsoft privately called OpenAI's data practices "theft" while both companies scraped paywalled Times content, built datasets from it, and warned internally it would gut publishers.
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Newly unsealed court filings show Microsoft privately called OpenAI's data practices "theft" while both companies scraped paywalled Times content, built datasets from it, and warned internally it would gut publishers. https:// techcrunch.com/2026/09/17/micr osoft-exec-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history-new-unredacted-filings-reveal/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodo
Microsoft, OpenAI emails reveal fear of AI “doom loop” killing news orgs.
this outlet adds: arstechnica, tech, policy
Microsoft, OpenAI lose fight to hide internal docs admitting scraping is theft L: https:// arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20 26/09/microsoft-exec-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history/ C: https:// news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4 9745932 posted on 2026.09.17 at 16:16:52 (c=0, p=10)
https:// techcrunch.com/2026/09/17/micr osoft-exec-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history-new-unredacted-filings-reveal/
The unsealed motion for summary judgment in the NYT/OpenAI/Microsoft case is a banger. https:// arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20 26/09/microsoft-exec-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history Full document: https:// cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content /uploads/2026/09/News-orgs-v-OpenAI-Microsoft-Memo-9-17-26.pdf
https:// arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20 26/09/microsoft-exec-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history/ AI companies are just as big of assholes as you thought they were and absolutely knew what they were doing wrt theft of works.
Newly unsealed court documents show Microsoft employees discussing whether OpenAI was involved in the “largest theft of labor in human history.”
Oh oh. Derivative works? : techcrunch.com/2026/09/17/m... Newly unsealed court filings show Microsoft privately called OpenAI's data practices "theft" while both companies scraped paywalled Times content, built datasets from it, and warned internally it woul...
Microsoft and OpenAI Workers Worry About ‘Largest Theft of Labor’ in History www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/t... Newly unsealed court documents showed concern within Microsoft and OpenAI over the use of millions of news articles to develop A.I. systems.
this outlet adds: sept, karen, weise, mike, isaac
Microsoft exec called AI scraping the “largest theft of labor in human history” Microsoft, OpenAI emails reveal fear of AI “doom loop” killing news orgs. https:// arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20 26/09/microsoft-exec-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history/
"OpenAI and Microsoft did not return requests for comment." 😹 https:// techcrunch.com/2026/09/17/micr osoft-exec-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history-new-unredacted-filings-reveal/
Thank you Brent Hecht, from one Brent to another, for calling it like it is. https:// arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20 26/09/microsoft-exec-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history/
Microsoft exec called AI scraping 'the largest theft of labor in human history' L: https:// techcrunch.com/2026/09/17/micr osoft-exec-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history-new-unredacted-filings-reveal/ C: https:// news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4 9752056 posted on 2026.09.18 at 05:45:07 (c=0, p=7)
... Microsoft Director Privately Admitted AI Was the “Largest Theft of Labor in Human History,” Unsealed Court Documents Show futurism.com/future-socie... Newly unredacted court documents reveal damning statements by two AI executives in a landmark case about intellectual property.
Plain English. It's theft. It's a heist. Con job. Newly unsealed court documents showed concern within Microsoft and OpenAI over the use of millions of news articles to develop A.I. systems.
this outlet adds: real, smoking, material, staffer, wrote, greg, brockman, president
this outlet adds: msft, worried, training, newspaper, amounted, human, colleagues, report
Newly unsealed filings in The New York Times’ copyright case against OpenAI and Microsoft quote Microsoft applied-science director Brent Hecht, who described using news articles to train AI models as “the largest theft of labor in human history.” The filings also cite OpenAI executive Nick Turley, who called chatbots an “existential threat” to publishers. The documents were released while a federa
The NYT filed a legal brief revealing potentially damaging statements from Microsoft and OpenAI regarding the copyright infringement case it brought against the two companies. The publication is now seeking a summary judgment from the court, almost three years since it started the case.
Microsoft exec called AI scraping the “largest theft of labor in human history” - Ars Technica Unsealed court filings in publishers' copyright lawsuits reveal internal emails where Microsoft and OpenAI staff admitted that scraping news content threatened to destroy publishers, with one director warning the practice mocked fair use and was an unprecedented theft of labor. https:// arstechnica.com/t
AI Is an Elite Crime Spree Documents show a Microsoft exec called AI the "largest theft of labor in human history.” New AI regulations are besides the point, the problem is we don’t apply existing laws to the powerful.
this outlet adds: open, substack, mattstol
this outlet adds: open, substack, mattstol
www.yahoo.com/news/politic... Unredacted court filings reveal Microsoft and OpenAI executives privately called AI data scraping theft while publicly defending it as fair use.
Microsoft director: AI scraping 'the largest theft of labor in human history' L: https://www. tomshardware.com/tech-industry /artificial-intelligence/microsoft-director-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history-while-openai-head-brands-chatgpt-an-existential-threat-to-publishers-revelations-come-from-legal-briefs-filed-in-nyt-lawsuit C: https:// news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4
Microsoft director: AI scraping 'the largest theft of labor in human history' | Hacker News https:// news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4 9768921
Microsoft exec called AI scraping 'the largest theft of labor in human history' | Hacker News https:// news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4 9752056
Microsoft executive called OpenAI's web scraping the 'largest theft of labor in human history' www.engadget.com/2262055/micr... Executives from OpenAI and Microsoft were reportedly worried about ChatGPT training that scraped millions of news articles.
As revealed in recently unsealed court documents, Microsoft’s Director of Applied Science calls ChatGPT and Copilot’s harvesting of data the “largest theft of labor in human history” and says that Microsoft’s defense makes a “complete mockery of the idea of ‘fair use.’”
Microsoft exec called AI scraping ‘the largest theft of labor in human history,' new unredacted filings reveal | TechCrunch New unredacted filings reveal Microsoft and OpenAI executives described scraping publisher content for AI training as theft, with internal memos noting it could damage publishers’ markets; the documents also detail paywall bypass and large-scale copying of NYT content. https:
Microsoft director called AI scraping ‘the largest theft of labor in human history,’ while OpenAI head brands ChatGPT an ‘existential threat’ to publishers — revelations come from legal briefs filed in NYT lawsuit, by @ jowi Morales https://www. tomshardware.com/tech-industry /artificial-intelligence/microsoft-director-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history-while-openai-hea