OpenAI case table
The table covers the cases against OpenAI that this site tracks, with the date of the most recent source checked for each row. Status means the procedural posture in the source cited in the section below, not a prediction.
| Case | Court | Filed | Status | Status as of | Issue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In re OpenAI Copyright Infringement Litigation (MDL 3143) | S.D.N.Y., 1:25-md-03143 | Centralized Apr. 3, 2025 | Summary judgment briefing; oral argument requested; no ruling | Oct. 29, 2026 | Copyright, training and outputs |
| New York Times v. Microsoft and OpenAI | S.D.N.Y., 1:23-cv-11195 (in MDL) | Dec. 27, 2023 | Part of the MDL | Oct. 29, 2026 | News articles |
| Daily News v. Microsoft and OpenAI | S.D.N.Y. (in MDL) | Apr. 30, 2024 | Part of the MDL | Oct. 29, 2026 | News articles |
| Authors Guild v. OpenAI (class action) | S.D.N.Y. (in MDL) | Before the MDL | Moved for summary judgment Sept. 2026 | Sept. 13, 2026 | Books, pirate libraries |
| Ziff Davis v. OpenAI | D. Del., transferred to MDL | Apr. 24, 2025 | In MDL; some claims trimmed Dec. 2025 | Dec. 2025 | Publisher content |
| Musk v. Altman and OpenAI | N.D. Cal., Judge Gonzalez Rogers | Tried spring 2026 | Dismissed after advisory verdict; appeal announced | May 18, 2026 | Nonprofit promises, governance |
| Raine v. OpenAI | S.F. Super. Ct., CGC-25-628528 | Aug. 26, 2025 | Coordinated in JCCP 5431; no trial date | Oct. 29, 2026 | Wrongful death |
| Seven SMVLC and Tech Justice Law Project suits | Los Angeles and S.F. superior courts | Nov. 6, 2025 | Pending; no ruling on liability | Nov. 2025 | Four deaths, three injury claims |
| GEMA v. OpenAI | Munich Regional Court I, 42 O 14139/24 | Nov. 13, 2024 | Ruled for GEMA Nov. 11, 2025; appeal status unconfirmed | Aug. 20, 2026 | Song lyrics |
Why is the New York Times suing OpenAI? The copyright cases
The copyright suits allege that OpenAI and Microsoft copied protected text to train GPT models and that the models sometimes return that text, or close paraphrases, to users. The defendants answer that training is transformative fair use and that verbatim output is rare. Those competing positions are now before one judge in Manhattan.
NYT v. OpenAI and Microsoft
The New York Times sued on December 27, 2023, asserting direct, vicarious and contributory infringement, DMCA claims, misappropriation and trademark dilution. On April 4, 2025, Judge Sidney Stein let the core infringement claims proceed and narrowed others, in an opinion on the court's own site that does not decide fair use. On January 5, 2026, he affirmed orders requiring OpenAI to produce a sample of 20 million de-identified ChatGPT logs, as AI Vortex's case timeline records. The site's NYT v. OpenAI case page follows the Times claims in detail.
The OpenAI copyright MDL
On April 3, 2025, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized twelve actions from California and New York before Judge Stein as MDL No. 3143. The MDL now holds the Times and Daily News newspaper cases, the Center for Investigative Reporting, the Authors Guild class action with authors such as George R.R. Martin and John Grisham, and Ziff Davis, whose April 2025 Delaware suit was transferred in. All sides cross-moved for summary judgment on September 4 and 5, 2026, Publishers Weekly reported via Merit. OpenAI and Microsoft filed sealed oppositions on October 23, 2026 and asked for oral argument, according to AI Vortex's reading of the MDL docket; no hearing date had been set and no fair use ruling had issued.
The authors' side argues OpenAI sourced books from pirate libraries such as Library Genesis. That matters because of Bartz v. Anthropic, where a California judge held in June 2025 that training on lawfully acquired books can be fair use but that building a library from pirated copies is not, as summarized in Chartlex's litigation timeline. For the doctrine, see the fair use analysis.
What happened in Musk v. OpenAI?
Elon Musk, an OpenAI co-founder and early funder, sued OpenAI, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, alleging they abandoned the nonprofit mission he backed. The case went to a jury trial in Oakland before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in spring 2026. On May 18, 2026, the nine-person advisory jury found Musk's claims barred by the statutes of limitations after deliberating less than two hours, and the judge adopted the finding and dismissed the case, including claims against Microsoft, CNN reported.
The verdict did not decide whether Musk was misled, only that he had reason to suspect it before 2021 and sued too late, according to MIT Technology Review. Musk said he would appeal to the Ninth Circuit. Because the limitations question was resolved as a fact finding, an appeal faces a deferential standard of review.
ChatGPT lawsuit cases over suicide and harm
This section concerns deaths, including of a teenager. It reports what the complaints allege and what courts have done, and nothing in it is a finding that OpenAI caused any death. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the U.S., available 24 hours a day. Outside the U.S., contact local emergency services.
Raine v. OpenAI
Matthew and Maria Raine sued OpenAI and Sam Altman in San Francisco Superior Court on August 26, 2025, case CGC-25-628528, after their 16-year-old son Adam died by suicide in April 2025. They allege ChatGPT, running GPT-4o, validated his suicidal thinking and discouraged him from confiding in his family, and that OpenAI released the model with weakened safeguards. OpenAI denied responsibility in its November 2025 answer. On February 3, 2026, the case was coordinated with others as In re ChatGPT Product Liability Cases, JCCP No. 5431, and a first case management order followed on August 4, 2026, according to AI Lawsuit Tracker. No trial date has been set.
Other wrongful-death suits
On November 6, 2025, the Social Media Victims Law Center and the Tech Justice Law Project filed seven suits against OpenAI in California state courts on behalf of six adults and one teenager; four of those people died by suicide, according to the firms' announcement. The claims include wrongful death, negligence and assisted suicide, and center on how GPT-4o was released. OpenAI called the deaths heartbreaking and said it had updated ChatGPT to better detect distress. No court has ruled on liability in any of these cases, and none has settled.
Is there a ChatGPT class action lawsuit you can join?
No. As of November 9, 2026, no lawsuit against OpenAI has produced a settlement fund, a claims administrator or a claim form for ChatGPT users, and none has been reported. The class actions that exist are on the plaintiffs' side of the copyright MDL, where the proposed classes are authors whose books were allegedly used for training, not ChatGPT subscribers.
Websites that promise a "ChatGPT lawsuit claim" are law firm intake pages for possible individual cases, not settlement claims. If a real settlement is ever approved, it will have a court-appointed administrator and a notice approved by a judge, as the Apple Siri AI settlement shows. People affected by AI outputs can find general guidance on the rights hub.
ChatGPT lawsuit update: what to watch next
Three events will move these cases. First, Judge Stein's ruling on the summary judgment motions in the MDL, which could decide whether training on news and books is fair use as a matter of law or send parts of the case to a jury in 2027. Second, the progress of discovery in the coordinated California product liability cases, where the plaintiffs seek internal records on GPT-4o's release. Third, any filing of Musk's Ninth Circuit appeal.
Abroad, the Munich ruling for GEMA in November 2025 held that ChatGPT's memorization and reproduction of nine German song lyrics infringed copyright, per Chartlex's summary. OpenAI said it would appeal. The changes log below records each dated development as this page is updated; for other companies, see the full case tracker.
No court has ruled on whether OpenAI's training is fair use, and no settlement or claim form exists in any case against it, so there is nothing for authors or publishers to file today. The key event is a ruling on the cross-motions for summary judgment in the Manhattan copyright MDL, briefed from September to November 2026. Musk's suit was dismissed in May 2026, and the wrongful-death cases have no trial date.
What changed
- 2026-11-09: Hub published; MDL summary judgment briefing in progress, no fair use ruling.
- 2026-10-23: OpenAI and Microsoft filed sealed oppositions to the news and book plaintiffs' summary judgment motions and requested oral argument.
- 2026-09-04: All parties in the copyright MDL filed cross-motions for summary judgment (Sept. 4 and 5).
- 2026-05-18: Advisory jury found Musk's claims time-barred; Judge Gonzalez Rogers dismissed the case.
- 2026-02-03: ChatGPT product liability cases, including Raine, coordinated as JCCP No. 5431.
- 2026-01-05: Judge Stein affirmed orders requiring OpenAI to produce 20 million de-identified ChatGPT logs.
- 2025-11-11: Munich Regional Court I ruled for GEMA against OpenAI over song lyrics.
- 2025-11-06: Seven suits filed against OpenAI in California state courts over deaths and psychological harm.
Frequently asked questions
How many lawsuits does OpenAI have?
There is no official count. This page tracks the copyright MDL, which alone bundles more than a dozen suits, the Musk case, the coordinated ChatGPT product liability cases including Raine and seven November 2025 filings, and the GEMA case in Germany. New filings arrive regularly, so check the changes log.
Why is the New York Times suing OpenAI?
The Times says OpenAI and Microsoft copied millions of its articles without permission to train GPT models and that ChatGPT and Copilot can reproduce its journalism, competing with it. OpenAI says training is fair use. The case is part of the MDL before Judge Stein, and fair use has not been decided.
Is there a ChatGPT class action lawsuit?
There are class actions against OpenAI on behalf of authors in the copyright MDL, but none on behalf of ChatGPT users has produced a settlement. As of November 9, 2026, no settlement fund or claim form exists for any case against OpenAI.
Can I file a ChatGPT lawsuit claim?
Not a settlement claim, because no settlement exists. Someone harmed by ChatGPT can consult a lawyer about an individual suit, as the families in the California coordinated cases did. Be wary of sites that present attorney intake forms as settlement claims.
What is the latest ChatGPT lawsuit update?
In late October 2026, OpenAI and Microsoft filed their oppositions to the plaintiffs' summary judgment motions in the copyright MDL and asked for oral argument. Replies were due in early November 2026. In California, discovery is under way in the coordinated wrongful-death and injury cases.
Sources
- S.D.N.Y. opinion on motions to dismiss, New York Times v. Microsoft, No. 23-cv-11195 (Apr. 4, 2025)
- CourtListener docket: In re OpenAI, Inc. Copyright Infringement Litigation, 25-md-3143
- AI Vortex: NYT v. OpenAI status as of Oct. 29, 2026
- Merit: NYT, Authors Guild, OpenAI and Microsoft move for summary judgment (Sept. 13, 2026)
- CNN: Musk loses case against OpenAI (May 18, 2026)
- MIT Technology Review: Why Elon Musk lost his suit against OpenAI
- AI Lawsuit Tracker: Raine v. OpenAI, CGC-25-628528
- Social Media Victims Law Center: seven lawsuits against OpenAI
- Chartlex: music industry AI lawsuits tracker (GEMA v. OpenAI)
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
This page is journalism and commentary, not legal advice. AI law changes quickly; check the primary sources above and consult qualified counsel for your situation.