Encyclopaedia Britannica is the latest giant to sue OpenAI

Encyclopaedia Britannica is suing OpenAI for allegedly misusing its reference materials to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models. The Chicago-based Britannica Group runs Britannica.com and Merriam-Webster.com, the online version of the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Creator of the 250-year-old Encyclopaedia Britannica, the company ended its print edition in 2012, survived Wikipedia, and has since focused on educational software and digital growth, including selling artificial intelligence agent software, according to The New York Times. Back in 2000, Britannica acquired Melingo AI, which offers “AI-powered solutions and natural–language processing” in multiple languages by leveraging artificial intelligence and computational linguistics, according to Britannica’s website. The Britannica Group alleges OpenAI—which is backed by Microsoft—used information from its encyclopedia and dictionary to train its AI chatbot ChatGPT. The problem is, OpenAI now automatically g