---
title: "Unsealed filings show Microsoft called AI scraping 'theft of labor'"
url: https://www.parallelquant.com/posts/unsealed-filings-show-microsoft-called-ai-scraping-theft-of-labor-9f408b
source_name: "TechCrunch"
source_url: https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/17/microsoft-exec-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history-new-unredacted-filings-reveal/
published: 2026-09-17T19:46:08.000Z
topics: ["policy", "llms"]
publisher: "Parallel Quant"
---

# Unsealed filings show Microsoft called AI scraping 'theft of labor'

*2026-09-17 · Source: [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/17/microsoft-exec-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history-new-unredacted-filings-reveal/)*

Newly unsealed court filings reveal a Microsoft executive privately described OpenAI's data practices as "the largest theft of labor in human history," even as both companies scraped paywalled New York Times content to build training datasets. Internal messages reportedly warned the practice could financially devastate news publishers.

**Why it matters:** This adds documented internal admissions to the ongoing publisher lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft, potentially strengthening arguments that the companies knew the harm they were causing. It's a concrete new data point in the unresolved legal fight over whether training on paywalled content counts as fair use or exploitation.

**Topics:** policy, llms

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Read the original: https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/17/microsoft-exec-called-ai-scraping-the-largest-theft-of-labor-in-human-history-new-unredacted-filings-reveal/
Canonical: https://www.parallelquant.com/posts/unsealed-filings-show-microsoft-called-ai-scraping-theft-of-labor-9f408b
Published by Parallel Quant — https://www.parallelquant.com