OpenAI Confronted with Litigation Accusing Improper Handling of Internet Users' Data

OpenAI Faces Lawsuit Alleging Misuse of Internet Users’ Data. The synthetic intelligence enterprise powering ChatGPT has been indicted for misappropriating the confidential information of numerous users.

OpenAI, the Artificial Intelligent (AI) enterprise powering ChatGPT, has been confronted with a legal claim asserting it misappropriated extensive volumes of online users' confidential information to refine its AI utilities.

Key TakeAway

• OpenAI, the AI-driven corporation powering ChatGPT, has encountered a legal action claiming it misappropriated substantial amounts of online users' information.
• The claimant, a non-profit legal organization called Clarkson, has previously initiated litigations on matters spanning from data breaches to antitrust regulations.
• Thus far, there is no established structure outlining ethical guidelines for utilizing personal data in the advancement of AI tools and applications.

The litigation was lodged yesterday in a federal court in California by Clarkson, a public interest legal firm based in Malibu that has previously instigated collective legal actions on a wide array of subjects, including labor disputes, data breaches, and antitrust legislations. The firm's mission, as expressed on its website, revolves around "engaging in mass actions that contribute to the establishment of a fair, just, and equitable society for all."

According to the court submission, this legal action stems from the Defendants' [OpenAI] illicit and detrimental conduct in the development, promotion, and operation of their AI products. These products allegedly employ pilfered private data from hundreds of millions of internet users, without obtaining their informed consent or knowledge.

In the lawsuit, Clarkson alleged that OpenAI gathers, retains, and reveals an array of information, including users' identities, contact details, login credentials, internet queries, social media data, and geolocation. By amassing the personal data of millions and misappropriating it for the development of an untested and volatile technology, OpenAI, according to Clarkson partner Timothy Giordano, has placed everyone in an immeasurable but unacceptable realm of risk, violating responsible data protection and usage standards.

Given that most AI applications are still in early developmental stages, the legality of utilizing data extracted from the internet to train AI tools remains ambiguous, lacking an established framework of ethical practices.

Some developers argue that extracting data from the internet could be deemed "fair use," a principle derived from copyright law that allows for exceptions in using private data as long as the material is transformed in a substantial manner.

OpenAI is not the only entity accused of mishandling user data or utilizing public databases to train AI tools. Tech giants like Meta Platforms (parent company of Facebook), Alphabet (parent company of Google), Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft have faced numerous lawsuits of a similar nature in recent years. In a recent incident, Meta Platforms was fined 1.2 billion euros ($1.31 billion) by Ireland's Data Protection Commission for unlawfully transferring European internet users' data to the United States.

However, Clarkson specifically targeted OpenAI due to its role in stimulating larger competitors to accelerate their own AI development after captivating the public's imagination with ChatGPT last year, as stated by the firm in an interview with the Washington Post.

"They're the company that ignited this AI arms race," added Clarkson.