ChatGPT Comes Under Investigation by Federal Trade Commission

livemint.com:

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether OpenAI’s ChatGPT has harmed people by publishing false information about them, posing a potential legal threat to the popular app that can generate eerily human-like content using artificial intelligence. In a civil subpoena to the company made public Thursday, the FTC says its investigation of ChatGPT focuses on whether OpenAI has “engaged in unfair or deceptive practices relating to risks of harm to consumers, including reputational harm." One question asks the company to “describe in detail the extent to which you have taken steps to address or mitigate risks that your large language model products could generate statements about real individuals that are false, misleading or disparaging." The new FTC investigation under Chair Lina Khan marks a significant escalation of the federal government’s role in policing the emerging technology.

But it could mean another risky venture into uncharted territory for the agency, which has suffered recent legal setbacks in its antitrust enforcement efforts. “When ChatGPT says something wrong about somebody and might have caused damage to their reputation, is that a matter for the FTC’s jurisdiction? I don’t think that’s clear at all," said Adam Kovacevich, founder of Chamber of Progress, an industry trade group.

Such matters “are more in the realm of speech and it becomes speech regulation, which is beyond their authority," he said. OpenAI didn’t respond to requests for comment.