Over the past year, AI technology has acquired a lot of momentum, and the European Union and the United States have already proposed legislation to control the emerging technology.
A class-action complaint has been filed against OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, in California for the alleged internet scraping of private user information. The legal issue that OpenAI is currently facing in relation to its data harvesting methods is this lawsuit.
On June 28, Clarkson Law Firm filed the case in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs who contend that OpenAI inappropriately obtained and utilized their private information brought this legal action on their own initiative through the law firm that is representing them.
Related: South Korea Must Invest in AI Chips to Stay Competitive says OpenAI CEO
![OpenAI Sued for Allegedly Scraping Private User Data to Train ChatGPT image 235](https://i0.wp.com/nosisnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/image-235.png?resize=1024%2C598&ssl=1)
![OpenAI Sued for Allegedly Scraping Private User Data to Train ChatGPT image 235](https://i0.wp.com/nosisnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/image-235.png?resize=1024%2C598&ssl=1)
By gathering information from millions of social media comments, blog posts, Wikipedia pages, and family recipes without getting permission, the lawsuit alleges that OpenAI violates copyrights and privacy. Concerns regarding privacy invasion are raised by the plaintiffs’ claims that OpenAI exploited their personal information without getting their permission.
The 16 listed plaintiffs in the lawsuit contend that OpenAI may have violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by improperly accessing their personal data via communications using ChatGPT. This implies that the complainants think OpenAI’s conduct crossed legal redlines and were unlawful.
A defendant in the lawsuit was also mentioned as Microsoft, a significant investor in OpenAI. Microsoft’s involvement in the lawsuit may have an impact on its relationship with OpenAI and may subject it to legal repercussions for the alleged data scraping.
The legal action draws attention to the escalating issues surrounding AI technology and the necessity of responsible data protection and usage. It highlights how crucial it is to gain informed consent and protect user privacy while gathering and using data for AI model training.
Related: UK Government to Get Early Access to AI Models from Google and OpenAI
The legal action taken against OpenAI emphasizes the importance of having a wider discussion about moral standards for the creation and use of AI systems.