They may just want a licensing deal.

They're already working on it with Apple (see my other reply in this discussion), so I wouldn't doubt that this is another salvo in the same battle.

Just train on NYT articles no longer in copyright. We may be better for it.

Next thing you know ChatGPT gives you the best way to crank your automobile and take good care of your crinoline.

Or buy them. OpenAI market cap is many times NYT.

If we see court judgements start to go copyright owners way, we will also see a scramble from AI companies to buy the few publishers with enough data to be worth buying, and to create works for hire to replace the rest.

In the long run a copyright ruling like that will be a boon for OpenAI and all other players with deep enough pockets to do so, and massively harm everyone else who will suddenly find it far harder to build models legally.

So that would mean articles from the 1920s, provided that the authors of those articles have been dead for 70 years, or longer in some other countries.