Media
THE publisher of The New York Times, A. G. Sulzberger, launched a sweeping attack on the leaders of the artificial intelligence revolution on Monday, accusing them of operating a “parasitic” business model built on the mass theft of copyrighted journalism that risks destabilising democracies worldwide.
In his opening address at the World News Media Congress in Marseille, Sulzberger warned that AI companies like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic are systematically “strip-mining” news websites without permission or payment. He argued that their actions are not only illegal but are actively dismantling the economic foundation of the news industry.
“Our profession has been too quiet, too passive and too fragmented in the face of abuses by the AI companies,” Sulzberger told an audience of news leaders from over 60 countries. “I’m warning that AI companies are making choices that violate settled law, threaten the viability of creative work, and appear likely to cause a great deal of unnecessary harm.”
Sulzberger revealed that The Times has already spent over $20 million on a two-and-a-half-year lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, with similar litigation filed against Perplexity. He noted that most news organisations lack the resources for such a fight, even as the combined valuation of the six leading AI companies has reached $11 trillion—more than three times France’s GDP.
The publisher detailed a new, more damaging wave of disruption in which AI models now answer questions directly, making users 10 times less likely to click through to the publisher’s website. Data cited by Sulzberger shows that traffic to major newspapers has dropped by more than 45% over the last four years, while AI competitors send referral traffic at a rate 96% lower than traditional search.
“It would be ‘impossible to train today’s leading AI models without using copyrighted materials,’” Sulzberger said, quoting OpenAI’s own admission. He contrasted the billions spent on chips and energy with the paltry sums offered to creators, noting that less than 0.01% of AI investment appears to be going to the people and companies whose data powers the technology.
Sulzberger dismissed tech industry arguments that their actions are protected by “fair use” or necessary for national security, calling them arguments that “do not withstand scrutiny.” He urged publishers to stand up for their intellectual property rights, push legislators for transparency and accountability, and unite with other creative industries.
“When a local news organisation fails, people in a community start to trust each other less and hate each other more,” Sulzberger warned. “A future in which a crucial wellspring of a healthy society and a stable democracy—the truth, understanding, and accountability provided by original journalism—continues to dry up.”
The tech companies have not yet issued a formal response to the speech, but have consistently argued in court and in public that their use of publicly available data for AI training falls under fair use doctrines and drives innovation.
A.I
June 6, 2026
Tags: A. G. Sulzberger