US FTC investigating ChatGPT creator OpenAI over consumer protection issues
OpenAI and whether the artificial intelligence company violated consumer protection laws by scraping public data and publishing false information through its chatbot. The agency sent OpenAI a 20-page letter requesting detailed information on its AI technology, products, customers, privacy safeguards and data security arrangements.
An FTC spokesperson had no comment on the investigation, which was first reported by The Washington Post on Thursday. The FTC document the Post published told OpenAI that the agency was investigating whether it has «engaged in unfair or deceptive privacy or data security practices» or practices harming consumers.
OpenAI founder Sam Altman tweeted disappointment that the investigation was disclosed in a «leak,» noting that would «not help build trust,» but added that the company will work with the FTC. «It's super important to us that out technology is safe and pro-consumer, and we are confident we follow the law,» he wrote.
«We protect user privacy and design our systems to learn about the world, not private individuals.» OpenAI has faced scrutiny elsewhere. Italian regulators temporarily blocked ChatGPT over privacy concerns, and privacy watchdogs in France, Spain, Ireland and Canada also are paying closer attention, including some that have launched investigations after receiving complaints.
The FTC's move is a serious regulatory threat to the nascent but fast-growing AI industry, although it's not the only challenge facing these companies. Comedian Sarah Silverman and two other authors have sued both OpenAI and Facebook parent Meta for copyright infringement, claiming that the companies' AI systems were illegally «trained» by exposing them to datasets containing illegal copies of their
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