gg2
Microsoft exec calls AI scraping largest theft of labor
The gist
Unsealed filings show a Microsoft exec called AI news scraping "the largest theft of labor in human history."
The documents expose how AI answers cut publisher traffic.
How it unfolded
- 2024 -01A Microsoft presentation written by Microsoft Director of Applied Science Brent Hecht described a "doom loop" in which declining news revenue would "hurt the performance of our models and the entire web at the same time."
- Sep 17, 2026A motion for summary judgment from news plaintiffs led by The New York Times was unsealed Thursday, exposing internal Microsoft and OpenAI documents.
- Sep 17, 2026The unsealed filing revealed Microsoft Director of Applied Science Brent Hecht described scraping news for AI training as "an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions" and possibly "the largest theft of labor in human history."