The U.S. government says training AI models on copyrighted material generally qualifies as fair use and is critical to American AI leadership.

  • The filing marks the White House’s first reported intervention in the growing wave of AI copyright lawsuits, stated a Reuters report.
  • The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft in 2023, accusing them of using millions of articles without permission to train AI models.
  • Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also urged G20 countries to support fair use while protecting creators.

The Trump administration has reportedly backed OpenAI in its copyright dispute with The New York Times (NYT) and other newspapers, stating that AI training generally qualifies as fair use of copyrighted material. The position could strengthen technology companies facing a growing wave of lawsuits over the use of copyrighted works to train artificial intelligence systems.

White House Backs OpenAI

The Trump administration submitted a brief this week in Manhattan federal court supporting ChatGPT maker OpenAI in its legal battle with The New York Times and other news organizations. The filing appears to mark the first time the White House has weighed in on a wave of cases brought by copyright owners, including authors, publishers, music labels and news outlets over AI training, Reuters reported.

“The United States has a strong interest in this court rejecting any argument that training LLMs on copyrighted texts violates copyright law” based on concerns including scientific advancement and national security, the brief said, according to Reuters.

U.S. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward also defended the administration’s position in a post on X.

“AI dominance is critical to promote national security, prosperity, and economic mobility for all Americans. This Administration will never let our Nation be at a disadvantage relative to our foreign adversaries based on a plainly incorrect understanding of copyright law,” Woodward said.

Lutnick Calls For Fair Use

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick separately urged G20 officials on Wednesday to support fair use and permit AI companies to train models on creators’ work, while also finding ways to “protect artists,” Reuters reported.

The government brief also pointed to the broader potential benefits of large-language models. “Beyond the subject matter of this litigation, LLMs are already helping researchers across fields achieve major breakthroughs,” the brief said, according to Reuters. It added that restricting LLM development based on what it described as a misunderstanding of the fair use doctrine could hinder creative and scientific progress, as well as American prosperity and economic mobility.

The New York Times filed its lawsuit in 2023, accusing OpenAI and its largest financial backer, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), of using millions of newspaper articles without permission to train OpenAI’s chatbot. 

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