Wikimedia Foundation warns AI copyright ruling could threaten open web
The Wikimedia Foundation filed an amicus brief in the high‑profile lawsuits between publishers such as The New York Times and AI firms OpenAI and Microsoft. It argues that a blanket court decision that treats large language models (LLMs) the same as chatbots that regurgitate copyrighted text could either strip Wikipedia editors of useful AI tools or endanger the open web.
Key points
- Wikimedia filed an amicus brief urging courts to protect LLM training on copyrighted work but not chatbot outputs
- The foundation says Wikipedia data fuels AI training while AI tools can help editors detect vandalism and improve articles
- It proposes scraping for pre‑training be fair use, but verbatim AI output to users should require a license
Wikimedia says its sites are a critical data source for AI training, yet the same systems can siphon traffic away from the encyclopedia. The filing stresses that while services like ChatGPT reproduce Creative Commons‑licensed text without honoring the license, LLMs also help Wikipedia by detecting vandalism and suggesting article improvements. It proposes that scraping for pre‑training should be fair use, but delivering verbatim excerpts to users should require a license.
Stephen LaPorte of the Wikimedia Foundation’s general council and CEO Bernadette Meehan warned that an overly simplistic ruling could threaten free knowledge and stifle open‑source AI development, urging courts to apply fair‑use principles carefully.
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Wikipedia’s operator says a bad AI copyright ruling could threaten the open web
The Verge AI · 30 October 2026
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