Delhi High Court Rejects ANI's Plea for Injunction Against OpenAI

The Delhi High Court has rejected a request from Indian news agency ANI for an interim injunction against technology firm OpenAI. ANI had filed a lawsuit alleging that OpenAI used its news reports without authorization to train its ChatGPT AI model.

Justice Amit Bansal stated that OpenAI's act of storing ANI's content during the AI training process does not, by itself, amount to copyright infringement. The court observed that the outputs generated by ChatGPT were not similar to ANI's original works and that the news agency failed to establish a prima facie case warranting an injunction.

ANI had alleged that ChatGPT reproduced portions of its reports verbatim and, in some instances, attributed fabricated statements to the agency, claiming these AI-driven "hallucinations" damaged its reputation. OpenAI denied the allegations and challenged the suit's maintainability in India, arguing its AI models are not trained domestically and its servers are located abroad.

The case has attracted attention from across India's media sector, with several publishers and music labels seeking to join ANI's legal battle. They argue that AI companies should not use copyrighted works without permission or licensing.

The court's decision noted that granting an interim injunction at this stage could cause irreparable harm to both OpenAI and the public. The copyright suit remains pending.