The New York Times has categorically denied allegations made by OpenAI that it engaged in 'hacking' the company's artificial intelligence systems, including ChatGPT, to generate misleading evidence of copyright infringement. The dispute centers on OpenAI's accusation that the Times used a 'hired gun' to manipulate its AI products into reproducing content from the newspaper, a claim the Times has dismissed as both 'irrelevant and false.' The newspaper responded by stating it had merely used the initial words or sentences of its articles to prompt ChatGPT, thereby bypassing paywalls and refuting the hacking allegations. OpenAI's characterization of the Times' actions as hacking was further criticized by the newspaper as grandstanding, aimed at dismissing parts of its lawsuit against the AI company. OpenAI has generated a 'Hired Gun Hacker' defense to the N.Y. Times copyright case.