British News Agency

Paul Deegan, president of News Media Canada, the national organization for Canada’s news media sector, said, “These AI companies are devouring proprietary content and freeloading off news publishers who invest real money to hire real journalists to produce real stories.” He added, “They are significantly, unlawfully, and unfairly enriching themselves at the expense of publishers while robbing journalism.”

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Ontario's Superior Court of Justice, seeks punitive damages, a share of OpenAI's profits derived from using the news organizations’ articles, and an injunction prohibiting the San Francisco-based company from using any news articles in the future.

The plaintiffs include Globe and Mail, Canadian Press, CBC, Toronto Star, Metroland Media, and Postmedia. They are demanding up to 20,000 Canadian dollars per article used by OpenAI, suggesting a court victory could be worth billions of dollars.