Google, OpenAI want license to steal from publishers with AI proposals, newspapers warn in scathing editorial

Big Tech giants like Google and ChatGPT maker OpenAI are seeking a “license to steal” as they push the White House to allow them to train AI models on copyrighted material without proper compensation, one of the nation’s largest publishers warned.More than 60 newspapers owned by Alden Global Capital – whose properties include the New York Daily News, the Chicago Tribune and the Denver Post – published an editorial on Monday demanding that the Trump administration reject “self-serving proposals” that could destroy the news industry.“Gutting generations of copyright protections for the benefit of AI bots would have a chilling effect not just on news organizations but also on all creative content creators, from novelists to playwrights to poets,” the editorial said.“That iron-clad commitment to protecting the rights of owners of work they themselves created is precisely what distinguishes the United States from communist China, not the reverse.”The plea came days after Google and Sam Altman-led OpenAI argued in letters sent to the Trump administration that copyright laws – which are essential for newspapers and other content creators to stop others from ripping off their work – must be rolled back to protect national security and allow the US to dominate the global AI race.Big Tech’s request was also met with derision by a coalition of high-profile Hollywood actors – including known Trump critics like Mark Ruffalo and Olivia Wilde – who asked the White House to ensure copyright protections remain in place.“We firmly believe that America’s global AI leadership must not come at the expense of our essential creative industries,” said the letter signed by more than 400 Hollywood creatives.“AI companies are asking to undermine this economic and cultural strength by weakening copyright protections for the films, television series, artworks, writing, music, and voices used to train AI models at the core of multi-billion dollar corporate...