Open AI, the creator of the widely-used chatbot ChatGPT, is being sued in a class-action lawsuit filed in California. The lawsuit alleges that Open AI unlawfully scraped private user information from the internet to train its ChatGPT model. The plaintiffs claim that Open AI collected data from social media comments, blog posts, Wikipedia articles, and even family recipes without obtaining consent from the respective users. This alleged action by Open AI has raised concerns about copyright infringement and privacy violations affecting millions of internet users.
The lawsuit specifically accuses Open AI of illegally accessing personal information from individuals’ interactions with ChatGPT. If proven true, it could constitute a breach of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which has been applied in similar web scraping cases in the past. Microsoft, a significant investor in Open AI, has also been named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Open AI has not yet responded to requests for comment.
The lawsuit further alleges that Open AI’s products utilize stolen private information, including personally identifiable information, from hundreds of millions of internet users, including minors, without their knowledge or informed consent. Clarkson, the native law firm behind the lawsuit, claims that Open AI’s actions put everyone at risk by collecting and misappropriating personal data to develop an untested technology.
The rapid rise of AI technology, exemplified by the popularity of ChatGPT, has drawn attention from governments worldwide. Both the United States and Europe have proposed legislation to regulate the AI industry. In the United States, lawmakers introduced the National AI Commission Act, aiming to establish a commission to study the country’s approach to AI. Similarly, the European Parliament passed the EU AI Act, which provides a governance and oversight framework for the AI industry in the European Union.
The class-action lawsuit against Open AI highlights the importance of data privacy and responsible data usage in the AI industry.
It brings attention to the need for clear regulations and safeguards to protect individuals’ rights and prevent unauthorized data collection and misuse. This case serves as a reminder that as AI technology continues to advance, addressing legal and ethical concerns surrounding AI development and deployment becomes paramount.