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OpenAI Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Data ‘Theft’ from Public to Train ChatGPT

OpenAI, the creator of the widely popular ChatGPT AI model, is facing a new lawsuit that alleges the company “stole” data from the public to train its AI systems. The lawsuit, filed as a class action against OpenAI and its partner Microsoft on June 28, raises some intriguing allegations and seeks certain outcomes.

The lawsuit asserts that OpenAI, according to its claims, unlawfully obtained data from millions of unsuspecting individuals worldwide, including children, with the aim of enabling the chatbot to imitate human language.

Moreover, the lawsuit alleges that OpenAI is amassing vast quantities of personal data from various sources on the internet, including private conversations and medical information, all without obtaining proper consent from users.

Additionally, the lawsuit highlights a selection of private information, detailed within its 157 pages, which it purports is being collected, stored, monitored, and shared by OpenAI. This includes social media details, cookies, keystrokes, typed text samples, payment data, and more.

Furthermore, the lawsuit contends that OpenAI is acquiring data from applications that incorporate GPT-4, encompassing image-related data from Snapchat, music preferences from Spotify, and financial information from Stripe.

Also: Protecting Your Privacy: What Not to Share with ChatGPT

At the heart of the lawsuit is the claim that OpenAI utilized “stolen data” to develop and train its products, including ChatGPT 3.5, ChatGPT 4, DALL-E, and VALL-E. The plaintiffs argue that OpenAI collected data from “millions of unsuspecting consumers worldwide,” including children of all ages, in order to enable its chatbot to replicate human language.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that OpenAI has been gathering vast amounts of personal data from the internet without obtaining users’ consent. This includes private conversations, medical data, and more. The lawsuit goes further to detail a comprehensive list of private information supposedly collected, stored, tracked, and shared by OpenAI, encompassing social media information, cookies, keystrokes, payment data, and various other types of personal information.

Furthermore, OpenAI is accused of acquiring data from applications that have integrated its GPT-4 model, such as Snapchat, Spotify, and Stripe. This allegedly includes image-related data, music preferences, and financial information.

The plaintiffs are demanding transparency from the defendants regarding the data they collect, its sources, and its utilization. They are also seeking compensation for the alleged “stolen data” of the plaintiffs and all members of the affected class.

One of the key requests made by the plaintiffs is for OpenAI to introduce an option that allows users to opt out of data collection entirely. The lawsuit also aims to halt what it deems as the “illegal” scraping of internet data by OpenAI.

Also: EU Artificial Intelligence Act: A Comprehensive Summary

It is worth noting that this is not the first time OpenAI has faced legal action. Just recently, the company was sued for generating false information about an individual using ChatGPT. The present lawsuit alleges that OpenAI stole personal data from millions of Americans, even those who do not use AI tools, constituting what the plaintiffs claim to be the “negligent and otherwise illegal theft” of personal data.

The lawsuit seeks not only temporary restrictions on OpenAI’s products until stricter regulations and safeguards are implemented but also financial compensation for individuals whose data was used to train the AI models. Microsoft, a major supporter of OpenAI, has also been named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

This legal action comes at a time when generative AI, like ChatGPT, has gained immense popularity. However, concerns about data access and privacy have accompanied its rise. Italy, for instance, imposed a temporary ban on ChatGPT due to privacy concerns related to the collection and storage of personal data used to train the AI algorithms. Some companies have instructed employees to refrain from entering confidential information into the chatbot, while others have banned the use of generative AI tools altogether.

Also: What is Generative AI?

The lawsuit emphasizes the potential benefits of AI platforms but also warns about the risks they pose, including significant disruption to job markets, the spread of false information, and potential malicious uses. The plaintiffs express concerns about the “catastrophic risk to humanity” posed by powerful corporations racing to release AI technology without sufficient consideration for its potential consequences.

In the face of these allegations and the ongoing legal battle, OpenAI and Microsoft have yet to respond to the claims made in the lawsuit.