OpenAI, an Indian court argued, told the court that deleting training data from the company’s ChatGPT platform while complying with its obligations in the US would just be ironic. This response is as a result of a legal dispute by an ANI, the Indian news agency, which OpenAI accuses of using its intellectual property without its consent.
In the course of the litigation, OpenAI’s representation, which is sponsored by Microsoft, maintains that Indian courts have no legal authority over the matter since the company is not based in India, has no physical offices in the country, and is not involved in any of the company’s operations.
OpenAI, in its filing with the Delhi High Court on January 10th, stressed that the firm already faces the US lawsuit lineup (laws connoting data retention during polls) and reminded that the firm has to keep its training data while the legal actions are active under these laws in the United States.
The lawsuit, lodged by ANI in November, has been a primary point of discussion lately in the context of using AI in India. ANI avers that OpenAI illegally used its content listed on the website without formal permissions to train ChatGPT, and the consequence should be the company removing the data from its systems.
Ongoing Global Disputes Over AI and Copyright
This lawsuit is just one aspect of the worldwide argument on AI and copyright. OpenAI has over the years been having ongoing legal issues including, but not limited to, being taken to court by The New York Times in the US, which accused OpenAI of rebroadcasting its digital products without permission.
With the reaction towards the level of streaming capacities that it had, the court eventually agreed with OpenAI. In addition, OpenAI continuously maintained that fair use was the reason behind the action they took as they concentrated around using data that was available to all over the globe.
OpenAI had promised the court in Delhi in November that it would stop using ANI’s content. However, ANI remained adamant and continues to say its content that was previously published is still present within ChatGPT’s databases and it has to be deleted.
OpenAI, in its legal defense, was clear to point out that it is complying with the US laws and retaining the training data while the litigation is in progress. “According to the laws of the United States, no one has the authority to delete the training data except the company itself which is bound by legal duties to preserve them,” OpenAI made clear in its letter.
Debating Jurisdiction
OpenAI further argued that the relief ANI seeks is beyond the authority of Indian courts. It noted that the company operates without any local offices or permanent establishments in India and that its servers, which store ChatGPT’s training data, are located outside the country.
ANI, which is partly owned by Reuters, opposed this point and maintained that the Delhi High Court has the jurisdiction to consider the case and further indicated that they will be responding in a comprehensive way.
A Reuters spokesperson declined to comment on the case but clarified that Reuters has no role in ANI’s operational decisions.
Concerns Over Competitive Fairness
Fox News, on its website, outlined other issues that ANI had brought up, centering on the unfair practices that OpenAI has been engaging in, with the big tech company collaborating with companies such as Time Magazine, The Financial Times, and France’s Le Monde.
ANI fears there would be an increasing difficulty for news publishers to reach readers as a result of the actions of OpenAI, which leads to the growth of their platform.
ANI also accused ChatGPT of generating fake news that looks like excerpts of their articles or sometimes directly copies the content. In response, OpenAI accused ANI of tainting the outputs intentionally to get the technology to reproduce the article, providing the defense base for the lawsuit.
The Delhi High Court has set the next hearing for January 28. Also, OpenAI is busy transforming itself from a non-profit organization to a company with $6.6 billion in equity raised in the past year.
On the other hand, the company has signed a few major contracts, including with international media companies, which can be seen as a strategic move to form partnerships while trying to get through the legal and regulatory hurdles.