NY Times Says OpenAI Hid Evidence in ChatGPT Copyright Lawsuit
NY Times filed a motion accusing OpenAI of hiding key data in a ChatGPT copyright suit.
Why it matters: This move escalates a landmark lawsuit with potential impact on AI training transparency and copyright risks for legal advisors.
- Motion for sanctions filed by NY Times on July 8, 2026.
- NY Times claims OpenAI withheld datasets and tools proving ChatGPT’s use of their articles.
- OpenAI says it has provided extensive discovery and supports a fair legal process.
- The lawsuit began in December 2023 over alleged unauthorized use of NY Times content.
On July 8, 2026, The New York Times filed a motion for sanctions against OpenAI, alleging the company concealed critical tools and datasets essential to the ongoing copyright litigation regarding ChatGPT. The NYT asserts OpenAI failed to produce the internal tools and the dataset that could clarify if ChatGPT outputs contained verbatim or closely copied New York Times articles.
The lawsuit, originally filed in December 2023, centers on whether OpenAI’s training of ChatGPT involved unauthorized use of copyrighted journalism. NYT's legal team said OpenAI "has failed to produce core components of its training data and key tools capable of identifying copied works, impeding our ability to prove copyright infringement." The NYT motion states OpenAI disclosed some of this information only after repeated requests and months into discovery.
OpenAI responded, maintaining it has "provided extensive discovery and is committed to a fair and transparent legal process," as reported by TechCrunch. The NYT attorneys emphasized this withheld information is "critical to determining whether OpenAI’s systems reproduced New York Times journalism without authorization," per Reuters.
Motions for sanctions are serious legal steps signaling alleged deliberate evidence concealment, which significantly raises tensions in this high-profile case. The outcome could set influential precedents about transparency obligations around AI training data and inform how legal professionals advise clients in AI development and use.
By the numbers:
- July 8, 2026 — Date NY Times filed motion for sanctions
- December 2023 — When the original NY Times lawsuit against OpenAI was filed
- Months — Duration of discovery before NY Times alleges timely disclosure of data