Asian News International (ANI), a major Indian news agency, has filed a landmark lawsuit against OpenAI, the US-based artificial intelligence company, alleging copyright infringement, Bloomberg reports.
ANI claims OpenAI misused its copyrighted news content to train its large language model (LLM), violating its intellectual property rights.
The lawsuit, filed in the Delhi High Court, seeks 20 million rupees ($236,910) in initial damages, according to ANI’s lawyer, Sidhant Kumar. The agency alleges that OpenAI not only used its content but also stored the data, further deepening the alleged breach.
OpenAI’s lawyer, Amit Sibal, countered during Tuesday’s hearing, arguing that the company has no servers in India and that the LLM training did not occur within the country. He asserted that this lack of Indian presence negates ANI’s right to sue in an Indian court. Sibal also revealed that ANI is currently blocked from accessing OpenAI’s platform.
This case marks the first of its kind against OpenAI in India. The Delhi High Court has accepted the case, acknowledging the complexities surrounding LLM training and the need for expert assistance. A further hearing is scheduled for January 28th.
Sibal informed the court that OpenAI is facing similar lawsuits elsewhere, including 13 in the US and one in Germany, but that no injunctions have been issued against the company to date.
