OpenAI lawsuit expands as Seattle Times and Newsday sue over paywall scraping

OpenAI lawsuit gains momentum as Seattle Times and Newsday file claims

The OpenAI lawsuit filed this week marks the second major newsroom to allege that the AI giant, backed by Microsoft, systematically harvested articles behind subscription walls. Both papers assert that proprietary content was scraped in violation of the EU’s AI Act, which expressly bans circumvention of paywalls.

“We cannot allow our journalism to be weaponized for training data without consent,” said a Seattle Times spokesperson.

Legal experts note that the EU code obliges signatories to respect access restrictions, naming subscription models as protected assets. The complaint seeks injunctive relief and damages, arguing that the data extraction undermines the business model of digital news.

According to Reuters, similar disputes have surfaced across Europe, where regulators tighten scrutiny on AI training practices. The case also revives debates sparked during the pandemic about the balance between open data and intellectual property.

Potential fallout for the AI sector

If the court sides with the publishers, the ↓ 1 precedent could force AI firms to overhaul data pipelines, inflating compliance costs and reshaping how models are built.