New York Times reporter sues Google, xAI, OpenAI over chatbot training

New York Times reporter John Carreyrou's lawsuit against Google, xAI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta Platforms, and Perplexity for using copyrighted books without permission to train their chatbots marks a significant development in the debate over AI training data and copyright infringement. This lawsuit has significant implications for website owners, particularly those who publish copyrighted content, as it highlights the potential risks of having their work used to train AI models without permission. If the lawsuit is successful, it could lead to a shift in how AI companies approach training data, potentially resulting in more stringent content policies and increased scrutiny of AI bot traffic on websites. In light of this development, website owners should take steps to protect their copyrighted content and monitor AI bot traffic on their sites. Actionable tips include: reviewing and updating their llms.txt files to restrict access to copyrighted content, implementing robust content protection measures such as watermarks or digital rights management, and regularly auditing their website traffic to detect and prevent unauthorized AI bot activity.