A coalition of news organizations suing OpenAI over alleged copyright infringement has urged a Manhattan federal court to give little weight to a Department of Justice filing backing the company’s fair-use position. The publishers, including The New York Times and Chicago Tribune, said the Trump administration’s ties to AI companies, including donations, raised questions about whether political and financial considerations influenced the government’s submission. They also said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Copyright Office were reportedly surprised by the filing, despite the government’s usual practice of consulting relevant agencies. The Times sued OpenAI in 2023, alleging that the company improperly used copyrighted news content to train its AI models. OpenAI argues that its training is protected by fair use because its models learn patterns and generate new text rather than reproduce articles verbatim. The DOJ said the publishers’ interpretation of fair use could hinder creative and scientific progress, U.S. prosperity and economic mobility. Judge Sidney H. Stein is overseeing multidistrict proceedings involving the disputes and will decide how much weight to give the nonbinding government filing.