OpenAI, Microsoft Staff Warned AI Could Replace News Publishers in Unsealed Court Docs: ‘Theft of Unprecedented Proportions’

Unsealed evidence in The New York Times’ copyright case reveals blunt internal concerns September 17, 2026 @ 1:02 PM OpenAI wordmark displayed on a digital screen, San Francisco, California, August 20, 2026. (Credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images) OpenAI and Microsoft officials privately warned that their artificial intelligence products could displace publishers and undermine the news business, according to newly unsealed evidence in The New York Times’ copyright lawsuit against the companies. “Our products are largely substitutive, period,” OpenAI executive Nick Turley wrote, according to the publishers’ motion for summary judgment. Microsoft Director of Applied Science Brent Hecht called the unauthorized copying of millions of news articles potentially the “largest theft of labor in human history.” More to come …