Folha de S.Paulo sues OpenAI over unauthorized use of news content in ChatGPT
Folha de S.Paulo sued OpenAI on 20 August 2025, alleging that the company collects and uses the newspaper's content without authorization to train ChatGPT and reproduce articles to users, including subscriber-only content, thereby diverting audience and revenue. The lawsuit accuses OpenAI of unfair competition and copyright infringement, claiming the company deliberately circumvents the newspaper's technical protections.
What happened
Folha de S.Paulo filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on 20 August 2025, accusing the company of collecting and using the newspaper's content without authorization or payment.
According to the lawsuit, OpenAI circumvents the newspaper's technical protections to access its site daily, then reproduces articles in full the same day they are published and provides summaries to ChatGPT users, including content restricted to paid subscribers.
Reported impact
The unauthorized distribution of Folha's content through ChatGPT diverts audience and readership from the newspaper's own platform.
Index analysis
Folha accuses OpenAI of unfair competition and copyright infringement, stating that OpenAI develops and improves ChatGPT using third-party content without authorization or compensation.
The newspaper's lawyer, Taís Gasparian, stated that OpenAI deliberately circumvents the newspaper's technical safeguards and distributes the content to internet users, thereby taking audience away from the newspaper.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.