Microsoft's Brent Hecht called AI scraping "largest theft of labor"

What happened

Unredacted filings in The New York Times' lawsuit reveal Microsoft's Brent Hecht called AI scraping "the largest theft of labor in human history," and OpenAI's Nick Turley said publishers face an "existential threat."

Why it matters

These private admissions appear to undercut OpenAI's fair-use defense, which requires that its use not harm the market for the original work, according to the filing.

What to watch

Much of the new information comes from The Times' own brief, not the underlying exhibits, which remain sealed. The judge's eventual fair-use ruling is the key test.