USA Today and several of its local newspapers sued OpenAI, seeking over $250 million in damages, alleging the company copied hundreds of thousands of articles without permission to train its AI models.
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">USA Today Co., along with the several local newspapers it owns, is suing OpenAI over claims that the company copied "hundreds of thousands" of articles to train its AI models, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/usa-today-sues-openai-copyright-infringement-over-ai-training-2026-10-08/">as reported earlier by <em>Reuters</em></a>. In <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28731453-usa-today-v-openai/">a filing on Thursday</a>, the publisher asks for damages of more than $250 million, alleging OpenAI's unauthorized use of its content "has done real and continuing" harm to its outlets.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This is just the latest in a string of copyright lawsuits filed against OpenAI. In <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/27/24016212/new-york-times-openai-microsoft-lawsuit-copyright-infringement">addition to a copyright lawsuit filed by <em>The New York Times</em></a>, OpenAI is also facing <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/28/24085973/intercept-raw-story-alternet-openai-lawsuit-copyright">legal action from <em>The Intercept</em></a>, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/news/656044/ziff-davis-sues-openai-ign-cnet-pcmag">CNET owner Ziff Davis</a>, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/29/24308984/openai-sued-canadian-media-copyright-chatgpt">CBC/Radio-Canada</a>, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/895372/encyclopedia-britannica-openai-lawsuit">Encyclopaedia …</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1008198/usa-today-openai-copyright-lawsuit">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>
# USA Today becomes the latest publisher to sue OpenAI
Source: [https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1008198/usa-today-openai-copyright-lawsuit](https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1008198/usa-today-openai-copyright-lawsuit)
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The publisher is seeking damages of more than $250 million\.
The publisher is seeking damages of more than $250 million\.
by
Oct 8, 2026, 5:58 PM UTC
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge
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Emma Roth
is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more\. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO\.
USA Today Co\., along with the several local newspapers it owns, is suing OpenAI over claims that the company copied “hundreds of thousands” of articles to train its AI models,[as reported earlier by*Reuters*](https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/usa-today-sues-openai-copyright-infringement-over-ai-training-2026-10-08/)\. In[a filing on Thursday](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28731453-usa-today-v-openai/), the publisher asks for damages of more than $250 million, alleging OpenAI’s unauthorized use of its content “has done real and continuing” harm to its outlets\.
“OpenAI’s commercial success rests on large\-scale copyright infringement,” USA Today Co\.’s lawsuit claims\. It alleges that OpenAI never asked for permission to use its content, instead “took”*USA Today*’s content to “build products worth hundreds of billions of dollars\.”*The Tennessean*,*Indy Star*,*The Columbus Dispatch*,*The Oklahoman*, and several other local outlets are also included in the lawsuit\.
OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to*The Verge*’s request for comment\.
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- Emma Roth
## The Verge Daily
A free daily digest of the news that matters most\.
35 newspaper publishers across the US have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that the companies scraped their copyrighted and paywalled content without permission to train ChatGPT, harming local journalism.
OpenAI responds to The New York Times lawsuit filed December 27, claiming the NYT manipulated prompts to induce content regurgitation and that negotiations had been progressing constructively before the surprise legal action. OpenAI disputes the characterization that NYT content meaningfully contributed to model training and defends its practices around content reproduction.
OpenAI faces calls for sanctions after allegedly hiding and deleting ChatGPT logs relevant to the NYT copyright lawsuit, potentially undermining its fair-use defense.
The Trump Administration filed a legal brief supporting OpenAI in the New York Times copyright lawsuit, arguing that AI training on copyrighted works is fair use and essential for maintaining US AI leadership.
The Trump administration has filed a statement of interest supporting OpenAI in The New York Times' copyright lawsuit, arguing that training AI models on copyrighted text constitutes fair use. This intervention could influence legal precedents for AI development and copyright law.