The Guardian Blocks OpenAI from Accessing Its Content
In a recent development, The Guardian, a prominent UK-based newspaper, has taken the decision to block OpenAI from accessing its online content. The move stems from concerns that OpenAI’s ChatGPT platform had been utilizing unlicensed content to develop its AI tools, leading to legal action from writers and demands from creative industries for measures to protect intellectual property.
This action comes in the wake of OpenAI’s announcement last month, where it offered websites the option to prevent its web crawler from scanning their content. Many online publishers have followed The Guardian’s lead in blocking this web crawler. Among these are major outlets like CNN, Reuters, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, The New York Times, and The Athletic.
Not limited to news publishers, other websites, including Lonely Planet, Amazon, Indeed, Quora, and Dictionary.com, have also barred the OpenAI crawler, as reported by The Guardian, citing Originality.ai.
A spokesperson for The Guardian emphasized that the use of The Guardian’s intellectual property by ChatGPT for commercial purposes goes against their terms of service. They stated, “The scraping of intellectual property from The Guardian’s website for commercial purposes is, and has always been, contrary to our terms of service.” The paper’s commercial licensing team looks forward to nurturing mutually beneficial relationships with developers worldwide.
What is ChatGPT?
The Guardian has not yet responded to Fox News’ request for comment on this matter.
Interestingly, this development aligns with British book publishers’ recent call to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, urging him to prioritize the protection of intellectual property rights in AI safety discussions scheduled for November in the UK.
The Publishers Association emphasized its readiness to embrace safe, secure, and transparent AI that benefits society but stressed the importance of supporting the UK’s content industries alongside AI development. They view the upcoming summit as an opportunity to affirm that UK intellectual property law should be upheld when AI systems utilize any content.
OpenAI has not responded to Fox News’ request for comment at the time of reporting.