Lawsuit tracker
Daily News v. OpenAI
Daily News, LP, et al. v. Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI (S.D.N.Y.), consolidated with the New York Times case and MDL No. 3143 for pretrial proceedings
| Plaintiffs | Eight daily newspapers owned by Alden Global Capital through MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing, including the New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News |
|---|---|
| Defendants | OpenAI entities and Microsoft |
| Court | U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Judge Sidney H. Stein) |
| Filed | 2024-04-30 |
| Status | Active |
| Content type | journalism |
| Last updated | 2026-07-21 |
The claims
Copyright infringement over training and outputs plus DMCA claims. The papers also allege the models fabricate content and misattribute it to their mastheads.
What has happened
Eight metro dailies under Alden Global Capital’s MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing sued OpenAI and Microsoft together, alleging their reporting was copied into training data and resurfaces in ChatGPT and Copilot outputs. The complaint also points to hallucinated content falsely attributed to their papers. The case was consolidated with the New York Times action before Judge Stein and now travels with the OpenAI MDL for pretrial purposes. The papers survived dismissal in spring 2025 alongside the Times, and in July 2026 they joined the sanctions motion over OpenAI’s discovery conduct.
Key developments
- 2024-04-30 — Eight Alden-owned dailies file suit in the S.D.N.Y. — the first large group of U.S. regional newspapers to sue OpenAI and Microsoft jointly.
- 2025-03-26 — Judge Stein turns back the dismissal motions in large part across the consolidated newspaper cases; the core copyright claims proceed.
- 2026-01-05 — In consolidated discovery, Judge Stein affirms the order requiring OpenAI to produce about 20 million de-identified ChatGPT logs to the newspaper plaintiffs.
- 2026-07-09 — The Daily News plaintiffs join the Times and other outlets in moving for sanctions over OpenAI’s alleged withholding and destruction of evidence. The motion is pending.
Why it matters for training data
Mid-market and regional archives carry litigation weight when they are registered and pooled: one MDL ruling could reprice an entire tier of news content at once. For AI-data buyers, the case is a reminder that exposure is not limited to marquee mastheads — a financial owner like Alden treats old news archives as an enforceable asset.
Sources
- Malay Mail (AFP): US newspapers sue OpenAI, Microsoft
- Philadelphia Inquirer: publishers ask court to penalize OpenAI
- AP via News Tribune: newspaper groups seek serious sanctions
- Wikipedia: The New York Times v. Microsoft and OpenAI (consolidation background)
Deeper analysis
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