USA Today Co. and Gannett units sue OpenAI in New York federal court, seeking over $250M
- Place in VP50
- #2
- Source
- 1
- Claims verified
- 5 of 6
What happened
On October 8, 2026, USA TODAY Co., Inc. and several affiliated Gannett entities filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (case 1:26-cv-08892). The defendants are OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI GP, OAI International, OpenAI OpCo, OpenAI Global, OAI Corporation and OpenAI Group PBC. The plaintiffs say they own copyrights in content from 19 publications, among them USA TODAY, The Arizona Republic, the Detroit Free Press and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The complaint says they join a long list of copyright holders that have sued OpenAI and other AI companies, many of whose cases have been consolidated in that court.
The complaint pleads three counts: copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement, and removal of copyright management information under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It alleges OpenAI's models were trained on content scraped from the plaintiffs' sites and reproduced that content in outputs to OpenAI users. The plaintiffs seek damages in excess of $250 million and a permanent injunction. They state that the law allows up to $150,000 per willful infringement, plus up to $25,000 per violation for stripping copyright management information. The source does not contain a response from OpenAI, and no court has ruled.
Key points
- Complaint filed October 8, 2026 in the S.D.N.Y., case 1:26-cv-08892, against OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC and five affiliates.1
- Plaintiffs own copyrights in content from 19 publications, including USA TODAY and The Arizona Republic.1
- Damages sought exceed $250 million; the complaint cites up to $150,000 per willful infringement.1
- Three counts: infringement, vicarious infringement and removal of copyright management information.1
- The complaint says many earlier copyright suits against OpenAI and other AI companies were consolidated in the same court.1
Why it matters
The plaintiffs put the claim above $250 million. That is a demand in a filing, not a finding, but it gives one number to the legal exposure that sits behind any valuation of OpenAI.
The complaint places itself among many copyright suits against AI companies, many of them consolidated in the same court, so the claim adds to an existing body of litigation rather than opening a new front.
The source gives no response from OpenAI and no ruling. A buyer or seller of a private stake therefore has no determined cost for this claim to price in.
In context
| Round | Date | Post-money valuation | Raised | Led by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funding round | Oct 2, 2024 | $157B | $6.6B | Thrive Capital |
| Funding round | Mar 31, 2025 | $300B | $40B | SoftBank |
| Funding round | Feb 27, 2026 | $852B | $122B | a16z, D. E. Shaw Ventures, MGX, SoftBank, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and TPG |
Updated
Fact-check
- USA TODAY Co. and affiliated Gannett entities filed the complaint on October 8, 2026 in the S.D.N.Y. (case 1:26-cv-08892).Confirmed by [1] CourtListener / U.S. District Court SDNY: the page header reads Case 1:26-cv-08892, Document 1, Filed 10/08/26, and the plaintiffs include Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC and Gannett GP Media, Inc.Verified
- The plaintiffs own copyrights in content published by 19 publications.Confirmed by [1] CourtListener / U.S. District Court SDNY: paragraph 2 says the plaintiffs together own copyrights in content published by 19 publications and names them, including USA TODAY, The Arizona Republic, Detroit Free Press and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Verified
- The plaintiffs seek damages in excess of $250 million.Confirmed by [1] CourtListener / U.S. District Court SDNY: paragraph 13 says the plaintiffs seek damages in excess of $250 million.Verified
- The law allows up to $150,000 per willful infringement and up to $25,000 per violation for stripping copyright management information.Confirmed by [1] CourtListener / U.S. District Court SDNY: paragraph 13 states these two per-violation limits as the plaintiffs' reading of the law.Verified
- The complaint pleads copyright infringement, vicarious infringement and removal of copyright management information, and seeks a permanent injunction.Confirmed by [1] CourtListener / U.S. District Court SDNY: Counts I, II and III carry these titles, and item 3 of the prayer for relief asks the court to permanently enjoin the defendants.Verified
- Many copyright suits against OpenAI and other AI companies have been consolidated in the same court.Stated by [1] CourtListener / U.S. District Court SDNY in paragraph 1 of the plaintiffs' own complaint; no independent source was read for the consolidation.Partly verified
Sources
- [1]CourtListener / U.S. District Court SDNY (opens in a new tab)Complaint, USA TODAY Co. v. OpenAI Foundation et al., 1:26-cv-08892 (S.D.N.Y.)the USA TODAY Plaintiffs seek damages in excess of $250 million
