Global: OpenAI Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Alleging Data Theft for ChatGPT

OpenAI, the creator of the popular natural language processing AI tool ChatGPT, is currently dealing with a class-action lawsuit in California. The lawsuit, filed by Clarkson Law Firm on June 28 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses OpenAI of scraping private user information from the internet without consent.

According to the lawsuit, OpenAI trained ChatGPT using data gathered from various sources, including social media comments, blog posts, Wikipedia articles, and family recipes, without obtaining permission from the respective users. This alleged action is claimed to be a violation of copyright laws and privacy rights affecting millions of internet users.

The class-action lawsuit involves 16 named plaintiffs who assert that OpenAI unlawfully accessed private information through individuals’ interactions with ChatGPT. If these allegations prove to be true, OpenAI may be found in breach of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which has previously been applied in cases related to web scraping. Microsoft, a major investor in OpenAI, has also been named as a defendant. OpenAI has not yet responded to requests for comment.

The lawsuit further alleges that OpenAI products utilize stolen private information, including personally identifiable information, from hundreds of millions of internet users, including children, without their informed consent or knowledge.

Clarkson, the law firm representing the plaintiffs, stated, “By collecting previously obscure personal data of millions and misappropriating it to develop a volatile, untested technology, OpenAI put everyone in a zone of risk that is incalculable – but unacceptable by any measure of responsible data protection and use.”

The rapid rise of AI technology, driven in part by the popularity of ChatGPT, has prompted governments worldwide to take notice and consider regulatory measures. In the United States, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the National AI Commission Act on June 20, which aims to establish a commission to study the country’s approach to AI. Similarly, the European Parliament passed the Artificial Intelligence Act in June, which proposes a framework for governance and oversight of the AI industry within the European Union.