Robert Thomson, the CEO of News Corp, has urged the White House to take stronger action against AI companies that allegedly misuse copyrighted material.
“Is it right for an AI engine to consume his book?” he questioned.
“Suddenly, what was once the ‘art of the contract’ feels more like the ‘art of theft.’”
Thomson expressed discontent with AI companies profiting at the expense of authors and publishers, including notable figures like Trump, right after the Post’s parent company reported better-than-expected quarterly revenues on Tuesday.
In June, Mehta successfully defended against a federal lawsuit from several authors who claimed he improperly trained Llama AI systems using their copyrighted books, though the judge cautioned that this win didn’t clarify the legality of such practices.
The lawsuit alleges that Meta misused more than 190,000 conservative works, including Trump’s “The Art of the Deal.”
Thomson asked, “Is it fair for creators to have their hard work exploited? Is it just a U.S. president being attacked?”
News Corp, which also encompasses the Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins, has raised concerns over AI startups allegedly stealing content to develop their language models.
The media leader criticized the self-serving nature of AI firms that rely on their own material without acknowledging the risks of undermining America’s competitive edge against other nations.
He noted, “Many of these companies compete with China, but America’s strengths lie in innovation and creativity—not just data, but true ingenuity.”
“To compromise that advantage by stripping away intellectual property rights is to jeopardize our very essence,” he argued.
Last month, the Trump administration initiated an AI Action Plan focused on fostering innovation through enhanced research funding and support for open-source AI.
This plan opposes what’s termed as “awoken” or ideologically biased models, advocating instead for deregulation and a more centralized federal approach that calls for “neutral” AI in federal procurement.
Moreover, Thomson encouraged major players like Meta, Google, OpenAI, and Amazon to allocate just a fraction of their extensive budgets toward supporting content creation.
“These companies invest hundreds of billions in data centers and energy; they should be investing significantly in critical content too,” he emphasized.
Thomson also voiced broader concerns regarding the long-term sustainability of the content ecosystem.
He warned against creating a “deep derivative” system that could deteriorate the quality of digital information, advocating instead for the preservation of diverse and reliable sources.
“In the past year, it’s become clear that audiences crave deep, meaningful, and refreshing content amid a sea of mediocrity,” he observed.
He acknowledged that authors, journalists, and other creators are grappling with both the challenges and opportunities presented by the current AI landscape.
News Corp stands as one of the most vocal advocates demanding compensation from AI companies that utilize content for training.
On the same day, while sounding the alarm on intellectual property theft, News Corp announced a profit of $648 million along with a $1 billion share buyback.
Last May, the company criticized a significant multi-year partnership with OpenAI that allowed access to news content from various flagship publications for AI training uses.
Additionally, it filed a federal lawsuit against a rival AI firm, accusing it of systematically stealing copyrighted news content.
Perplexity AI rejected these claims and pushed back against News Corp’s portrayal of its technology.
Thomson has committed to continuing legal action to protect the rights of content creators.
“We will fight to defend our authors’ and journalists’ intellectual property by pursuing lawsuits against any company that violates fundamental property rights,” he stated.
