New York Times and Tribune publishers sue Brave over AI data scraping

A coalition of major publishers, including The New York Times and the owners of the Chicago Tribune, has launched a legal offensive against Brave Software. The lawsuit targets the browser maker’s practice of scraping copyrighted material to feed AI models and offering tools that systematically circumvent digital paywalls.

Corp and Tech·November 2, 2026·reads: 702

The complaint alleges that Brave has built a lucrative business by monetizing its proprietary index of web content. By providing paid access to this data, the company reportedly enables AI firms such as Anthropic, Perplexity, Mistral, xAI, and Cohere to train their models and answer user queries using unauthorized material. Publishers argue this infrastructure relies entirely on stolen intellectual property.

Beyond data scraping, the litigation takes aim at Brave’s browser features that actively bypass paywalls. According to the plaintiffs, Brave promotes its ability to bypass these digital barriers without seeking consent or offering compensation. NYT spokesperson Graham James stated that the browser developer has ignored repeated cease-and-desist requests, choosing instead to ignore established copyright law. The publishers are now seeking to halt these practices, asserting that Brave’s conduct undermines their ability to control and profit from their own reporting.