The New York Times’s legal attack on OpenAI could jeopardize the privacy of every ChatGPT user and may expose disturbing levels of leftist bias in the process
The legacy outlet convinced a court in May to issue an order forcing OpenAI to indefinitely “preserve and segregate” data that would otherwise be deleted. OpenAI argues the order would prevent users from permanently deleting their conversations with ChatGPT.
“Recently the NYT asked a court to force us to not delete any user chats. we think this was an inappropriate request that sets a bad precedent. We are appealing the decision. We will fight any demand that compromises our users' privacy; this is a core principle,” OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman wrote in a June 5 post on X.
The famously left-wing publication claimed that millions of its articles had been used in OpenAI’s training, alleging billions of dollars in damages. If true, this means that OpenAI has fed massive amounts of leftist propaganda into its chatbot, potentially impacting the prompts users receive.
See Also: [Did NYT Lawsuit Against OpenAI Expose Chatbots Mainstream Legacy Collusion?]
Although OpenAI is feuding with The Times in court, it has signed several “exclusivity contracts” with other left-wing publications like The Associated Press, The Washington Post, Axios, Time, Vox, The Atlantic, Future and The Financial Times. If OpenAI trains its chatbot primarily on these publications, it will inevitably prioritize their viewpoints and information when responding to users.
Both the lawsuit and these exclusivity contracts raise serious concerns. Studies have repeatedly exposed ChatGPT for recommending biased, legacy media sources in response to prompts, including The Times itself.
In response to questions from MRC researchers about Soros-funded prosecutors, ChatGPT has recommended legacy media sources, including The Times. The chatbot completely ignored a Special Report by MRC researchers exposing how Soros-funded groups direct and control Soros prosecutors after they are elected. In another study, MRC researchers found that ChatGPT offered The Times in response to a request for a list of the best news sources.
Read More: [OpenAI Chatbot CAUGHT Touting Legacy Media, So-Called Media Ratings Firms Ad Fontes & NewsGuard]
Additionally, ChatGPT, like The Times, has shown an affinity for Democrats, even on issues of basic reality. In response to a question about whether a woman could have a penis, the chatbot used the language of The Times, The Associated Press, and LGBT advocacy groups. It used the propaganda phrase “individuals assigned female at birth” and said that it was “important to respect and acknowledge individuals’ self-identified gender.”
During the 2024 election cycle, ChatGPT routinely showed favoritism towards former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as opposed to President Donald Trump.
After a would-be assassin shot Trump in July 2024, MRC researchers found that ChatGPT strongly denounced extreme political rhetoric when it was aimed at Harris or other unnamed public figures, calling it out in clear, unambiguous language. ChatGPT called comparing Harris to Hitler “incendiary,” “inappropriate,” “inherently disrespectful,” “a subjective and extreme viewpoint,” “not supported by factual evidence or historical context,” and “trivializes the immense suffering caused by his regime.”
By contrast, ChatGPT backed away from direct answers and softened its language in response to questions about extreme political rhetoric against Trump, even though it was Trump who was nearly killed. ChatGPT answered a question about comparing Trump to Hitler by saying such comparisons are “typically seen as inflammatory,” “often trivialize the atrocities committed under Hitler’s regime,” and “can be seen as sensationalist or disrespectful” [emphasis added].
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