Two renowned nonfiction authors, Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage, have filed a class action lawsuit against tech giants Microsoft and OpenAI, alleging extensive copyright infringement. The lawsuit, lodged in Manhattan federal court last Friday, accuses the defendants of utilising the authors’ copyrighted works to develop their AI systems, including the notable AI chatbot ChatGPT.

Read: More nonfiction authors added to lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft

This legal action follows a similar lawsuit by The New York Times against the same entities, alleging the use of the newspaper’s content in training their large language models. Microsoft, a significant investor in OpenAI, now faces mounting legal challenges.

In a striking declaration, the authors’ lawsuit asserts, “They’re no different than any other thief,” highlighting the gravity of their accusations. The plaintiffs aim to represent a large class of authors whose works, they claim, have been “systematically pilfered” by Microsoft and OpenAI.

The suit notably mentions a prior lawsuit by prominent American fiction writers, including George R.R. Martin and Jonathan Franzen, against OpenAI. It draws attention to OpenAI’s reliance on “massive amounts of written material” for training its AI models, material that purportedly includes books by Basbanes and Gage.

Read: Supergroup of authors including George R.R. Martin sue OpenAI

Basbanes, a distinguished journalist and author known for his books about bibliophilia, and Gage, a celebrated investigative reporter and author of the best-selling memoir “Eleni,” bring significant clout to the lawsuit. Gage’s work has been acknowledged at the highest levels, including a mention by then-President Ronald Reagan in a speech in 1987.

The legal complaint also seeks substantial damages, estimating the class size to be in the tens of thousands and demanding up to $150,000 for each work infringed upon.

In response to the previous lawsuit by The New York Times, OpenAI had stated its commitment to respecting content creators’ rights and expressed surprise at the legal action. The company stressed its efforts to collaborate with publishers for mutual benefit.

Read: OpenAI and Microsoft in new AI lawsuit over training data

Both Microsoft and OpenAI have yet to comment on this latest lawsuit, as reported by CNBC. However, the evolving situation highlights the complex legal and ethical challenges faced by AI technology in relation to intellectual property rights.