White House backs OpenAI in AI copyright suits

The Trump-era Justice Department has stepped into a wave of AI copyright lawsuits by backing OpenAI’s fair-use defense, arguing that training large language models on publishers’ articles is transformative and serves national security, innovation, and economic vitality. The government says restricting training would harm scientific progress and could empower foreign rivals, while not addressing potential harms from produced AI outputs separately. This is widely seen as the White House’s first major intervention in these high-profile cases, including The New York Times, The Intercept, and other publishers, and it aligns with broader efforts to accelerate AI development. Critics from news organizations argue the administration is prioritizing AI industry interests over creators’ rights, potentially enabling unchecked use of their work. EU law and other jurisdictions are referenced to highlight different copyright regimes and their implications for AI training and licensing costs. The filings collectively underscore a pivotal debate: should fair use accommodate rapid AI innovation, or should publishers secure stronger control over the training data powering these models?