Recently unsealed court documents reveal that OpenAI and Microsoft were well aware they were driving us towards a “doom loop” that would damage the web. They described their scraping of data as the “largest theft of labor in human history”, and it’s clear they knew they were at odds with the economic foundations of their own content supply chain.

Their internal documents and quotes from key figures, including Satya Nadella, paint a picture of a company knowingly undermining the very publishers and creators who are their lifeblood. It’s a stark reminder that the quest for profit can come at a heavy cost.

OpenAI’s Nick Turley even admitted that their chatbot, ChatGPT, is “insanely good at regurgitation” and that users have “no good reason to click” on the original sources. This isn’t just a case of technology advancing; it’s a case of technology advancing at the expense of the very systems it depends on.

Their admission that “LLMs are a product that destroys its own supply chain” is a damning indictment of their approach. The drop in referral traffic for publishers like the New York Times is a clear sign that they are indeed damaging the very industry they are part of. It’s a perfect example of a ‘doom loop’ – a situation where the end-product threatens the economic foundations of its essential suppliers.

It’s a chilling reminder of the ethical considerations that need to be at the forefront of technological advancements. Will we witness the end of the web as we know it, or will these companies be forced to re-evaluate their strategies to prevent irreparable harm?