OpenAI has told an Indian court that any order to delete the training data that powers its ChatGPAT service would be inconsistent with its legal obligations in the United States, according to a recent filing seen by Reuters.
The Microsoft-backed AI firm also said that Indian courts do not have the jurisdiction to hear the copyright infringement case brought by local news agency ANI as OpenAI has no presence in the country.
In the most high-profile and closely tracked lawsuit over the use of AI in India, ANI sued OpenAI in Delhi in November, accusing it of using the news agency’s published content without permission to train ChatGPT. Was applied.
OpenAI responded to the suit, which also seeks deletion of ANI data already stored by ChatGPT, in an 86-page filing in the Delhi High Court on January 10, which was not previously reported.
OpenAI and other companies have faced similar lawsuits from major copyright owners over alleged misuse of their work to train AI models, including a case brought by The New York Times against OpenAI in the United States.
OpenAI has repeatedly denied the allegations and has said that its AI systems use publicly available data appropriately.
During the November hearing, OpenAI told the Delhi court that it would no longer use ANI’s content, but the news agency argued that its published works were stored in ChatGPT’s memory and should be deleted.
In a January 10 presentation, OpenAI said it is currently defending litigation in the United States regarding the data on which its models have been trained, pending a hearing in accordance with laws there. There is a need to preserve.
“OpenAI is therefore under a legal obligation under the laws of the United States to preserve, and not delete, said training data,” it says.
OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.
OpenAI also said in its submission that the relief being claimed by ANI is not subject to the processes of Indian courts and is beyond their jurisdiction.
The company “does not have any office or permanent establishment in India…the servers on which (ChatGPT) stores its training data are likewise located outside India”.
ANI, in which Reuters holds a 26 percent stake, said in a statement that it believes the Delhi court has the jurisdiction to decide on the matter, and will file a detailed response.
A Reuters spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment but the agency said in November that it was not involved in ANI’s business practices or operations.
The New Delhi court is scheduled to hear the case on January 28.
OpenAI is preparing to transition from a non-profit venture to a for-profit business as it looks to secure even more funding to stay ahead in the expensive AI race after raising $6.6 billion last year.
In recent months, it has signed deals with Time magazine, the Financial Times, Business Insider-owner Axel Springer, France’s Le Monde and Spain’s Prisa Media to display content.
ANI has also said it is concerned about unfair competition given OpenAI’s business partnerships with other news organizations, and told the court that in response to user prompts, ChatGPT copied ANI’s actions verbatim or substantially. Identical quotations have been reproduced to an extent.
In its rebuttal submission, OpenAI argues that ANI “sought to use verbatim quotes of its own article as a signal, in an effort to manipulate ChatGPT”.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
