Trump Administration Backs OpenAI in New York Times Copyright Suit

The Trump administration filed an advisory brief Tuesday urging a federal judge to rule for OpenAI in The New York Times' copyright lawsuit. The brief argues that AI training on copyrighted works is protected by fair use.

• 20-page DOJ brief is the government's first formal court filing on AI training and copyright.
• The Times, which sued in December 2023, seeks "billions of dollars" from OpenAI and Microsoft.
• DOJ argues AI training is an "extraordinarily transformative" use that does not harm the original market.
• $1.5 billion: Anthropic's 2025 settlement with authors — for pirating training material, not for training itself.

Why it matters: The ruling could set the terms for dozens of similar suits from record labels, movie studios, authors, and news publishers. All of those cases hinge on the same fair-use question.

• DOJ warns that broad copyright liability would let only the largest tech firms afford licensing fees, reducing competition.
• The brief also raises national security grounds, arguing that restricting AI development gives foreign adversaries a competitive edge.

How 18 sources split on this story

Where they split: The core dispute is whether AI companies must pay rights-holders to use copyrighted works for training, or whether that use qualifies as fair use requiring no license or compensation.

What’s next: The judge overseeing the case is not bound by the DOJ brief and will rule independently.

• Cases from music labels against Anthropic and Suno also await rulings on the same fair-use question.
• Will courts follow the DOJ's reasoning, or the 2026 Copyright Office report that called broad AI training use a violation of fair use boundaries?
• Does Trump's personal defamation suit against the Times create a conflict of interest in the administration's intervention?