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OpenAI and Microsoft knew they were starting a ‘doom loop’ for the web

AnnouncementPolicySep 18, 2026

Newly unsealed court filings in the New York Times' lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft include internal documents describing the companies' AI content strategy as a "doom loop" harming the web. Microsoft Director of Applied Science Brent Hecht called data scraping the "largest theft of labor in human history." Spokesperson Alex Haurek told The Verge the comments reflect one employee's views, and Jordan Usdan's filing characterized Hecht's role as adversarial.

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OpenAICompanyMicrosoftCompanyThe VergeCompanyNew York TimesCompanyBrent HechtPersonAlex HaurekPersonJordan UsdanPerson
Canonical: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/997633/openai-microsoft-chatgpt-ai-new-york-times-doom-loop-theft-google-zero